Jordi Jon Pardo

Journalist, Documentary Photographer

jordijon.com

Árida

Location: Barcelona

Nationality: Spanish

Biography: 1996, Tarragona, Spain. Focused on portraying the stories of the environment, Jordi Jon Pardo is a documentary photographer based in Barcelona. He's one of the founders of MÓN, an environmental journalism organization. His interest in... read on

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

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.

Instead of water, there’s football. Young Senegalese men enjoy a game each day at 7 pm, excluding Mondays, on the outskirts of Cuevas del Almanzora (Almeria). The Almanzora River, which flows nearby, has almost completely dried out due to droughts and agricultural practices in the area. Cuevas del Almanzora, August 2020.

Burning car, an old BMW set on fire by the visual artist Ada Zielinska. Almeria is a land of special effects and art projects due to its environment: the only desert in Europe.

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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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.

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A metal foundry. Where raw materials from mining activities are transformed into machining parts. Strip mining destroys landscapes, forests and wildlife habitats at the site of the mine when trees, plants, and topsoil are cleared from the quarry. Òdena, March 2021.

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

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.

A plastic waste remains next to a greenhouse from 'Mar de Plástico' in El Ejido. El Ejido, December 2019.

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A clean laboratory almost empty, affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Sener Aeroespacial is a Spanish aerospace research and engineering company, with a vocation on monitoring and knowing the nature and scope of the problems caused by human activity, such as desertification. Barcelona, February 2021.

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.

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Some quarriers have a break in Alcover's valley, in southern Catalonia, one of the Spanish regions with highest concentration of quarries. Alcover, March 2021.

Dynamite explodes and the dust invades Alcover's mountain. A quarry in southern Catalonia. Alcover, March 2021.

Public Story

Árida

Credits: jordi jon pardo

Updated: 04/03/21

Location: Southern Spain

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

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