Jordi Jon Pardo

Photographer

jordijon.com

Árida

Biography: 1996, Tarragona, Spain. He graduated in Journalism at the Universitat Ramon Llull and a Photojournalism Postgraduate at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. His interest in the image began while studying photojournalism in the faculty,... read on

A hiker crosses a hill in the desert of Tabernas (southeast Spain), the driest area in Europe. Tabernas, May 2019.

Instead of water flowing down, there is football. Some young people from Senegal enjoy a match every single day at 7pm (but Mondays), in the outskirts of Cuevas del Almanzora (Almeria), where is located the Almanzora, an almost completely dried-out river during its course due to droughts and agricultural industry practices. Several companies control the water coursing of this scarce land. Almeria. Cuevas del Almanzora, August 2020.

Land degradation is a major cause of the increasing impact of floods in Spain. In the picture, a football field from southeastern Spain affected by torrential rains. Benferri, September 2019.

Felix, a 64-year-old retiree from El Paraje del Cabezo, poses in the kitchen of his house. “Despite my home being completely flooded, I consider myself lucky because I had the car in the repair shop”. Benferri, September 2019.

Burning car. Almeria is a land of special effects and art projects due to its environment: the only desert in Europe. In the photograph, an old BMW set on fire by the visual artist Ada Zielinska. San Juan de los Terreros, August 2020.

Door to aridity. The entrance to one of the greenhouse fields of southern Spain, also known as ‘Mar de Plástico’ (Sea of Plastic), in the province of Almeria. Around the vicinities of Adra gates hide, not just hectares of greenhouses, but dying lands affected by waste pollution and chemicals. Adra, December 2019.

From Alger to Almeria. Migrant farm workers in southern Spain suffer appalling conditions to supply fruit and vegetables to the European Union. San Juan de los Terreros, August 2020.

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A quarrier throws sand into a mound in Baix Camp county, in southern Catalonia, one of the Spanish regions with highest concentration of quarries. Vilanova d'Escornalbou, November 2020.

Suspended dust particles are a common phenomenon around the Levantine coast of Southern Spain. Caused by wind or such as tractors or combines, it hinders the visibility and breathing of passerby and neighbors who live near these arid lands. Cuevas del Almanzora, August 2020.

In Tabernas, the only desert in Europe, are the authentic westerns scenarios, turned into a Mediterranean Theme Park. In the picture, an actor of Oasys MiniHollywood poses in front of a set. Tabernas, May 2019.

A woman descends from a limestone mound affected by wind, water and time in San Juan de los Terreros. San Juan de los Terreros, July 2019.

Where the aridity melts with the sea. The desert of Southeastern Spain reaches a beach in Calarreona, a popular destination for both tourists and natives. Calarreona, August 2020.

After Gota Fría, several workers take a car out of a destruction zone in Benferri. Hundreds of cars carried away by the flood currents were removed around meridional Spain. Some owners spotted their vehicles in other towns, some others even disappeared into the sea. Benferri, September 2019.

Always on. Pubs like ‘Emilio Bar’ from Benferri keep the news on in the background for much of the time during the storms that wiped out the town. Benferri, September 2019.

Public Story

Árida

Credits: jordi jon pardo

Updated: 01/01/21

Location: Southern Spain

Archived as: Abandonment, Climate Change, Desert, Desertification, Documentary, Documentary Photography, Environment, Photography, Photojournalism, Spain, Spotlight

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