And all for a photo!, exclaims David Gargallo, a young man from Granollers, still with fear in his body. Their sneakers have been completely covered by the dense mud that accumulates after decades of sediment carried by the river to the swamp. In reality Sau, with 1% water, today is much more like a river than a reservoir.
The young man, who with his thoughtless act drew several sighs from those present, was lucky that his good friend Èric came to his aid. “Seeing him in trouble, I threw a stick at him… he was sinking into the mud little by little,” explains the colleague. “If you get nervous you are lost; If I were alone, maybe I wouldn’t have been able to go out,” he admits while he washes his hands, black as a brand.
But in the Sau reservoir, which is accessed after a final 16-kilometer stretch of steep curves, it has been impossible to be alone for months. Since its waters began to drop rapidly, more than a year and a half ago, weekends have become a real Rambla.
The latest news about its state in the media and the new buildings that are emerging from its waters have a striking effect. “On peak days between 1,000 and 1,500 people can pass through here,” explains Joan Pareja, the forest ranger who regulates the parking area that depends on the park.
As he guides drivers, he sends messages of caution. “Be careful with the mud, people often get trapped. And the dog is well tied!” The slogan is very clear but there are many who do not pay attention to it.
“Oh, I’m sinking!” a young woman screams in anguish, after having put her foot where she shouldn’t have. “They had warned us, but…” acknowledges Sergi, from La Garriga, who ended up in mud up to his calves in his attempt to get as close to the sheet of water as possible. Not even he knows exactly what she wanted to see.
Incidents like these are by no means isolated cases and are repeated daily. There are even those who have returned home with one less shoe or sneaker when they were left half-submerged in the mud. For many, carrying their cell phone has been vital to be able to call for help in rarely traveled areas of the swamp.
Pets also go through trouble if their owners are not careful. Roser Moreno, a resident of Barcelona, ??picks up Elsa, a 9-year-old Maltese bichon, as soon as she notices that the wet earth begins to move under her feet.
One of the areas that was most busy this past Saturday was the area around the old flour mill, which is now perfectly visible. Visitors approach it, surrounding or jumping over what remains standing of the buildings in which the workers who built the dam once lived.
It is a coming and going of people, including many families with small children. A detour that, of course, most of the time ends with the obligatory photo or selfie. The most cautious warn minors to stay away from the quagmire. But there are also those who walk through the swamp with babies in their arms. Quite an example of foolishness.
Another focus of attention is the medieval bridge of the old town of Sant Romà, which begins to protrude from its waters. It is the first time it has emerged since the reservoir was inaugurated in 1963. Any new development, then, is another source of photos.
From the Espai Natural Guilleries-Savassona to which the most photographed swamp in Catalonia belongs, they warn of the danger of getting too close to the water’s edge, due to the large amount of accumulated silt.
Its director, Sònia Llobet, asks for a lot of caution and remembers that the margins of the reservoir are unstable terrain. At the moment, the Firefighters say that they have only acted once in this scenario – another in Riudecanyes to “save” a journalist in trouble – to rescue a man who was drowning on a bank. A ground team and personnel from the Special Actions Group (GRAE) intervened.
The Catalan Water Agency (ACA) placed a sign prohibiting entry around the church of Sant Romà de Sau. But, given what we have seen, perhaps it would be advisable to place more signs near the new “attractions” of the reservoir, such as the flour mill. The Rural Agents assure that they carry out controls to prevent access to the muddiest areas.
With the waters so low, Sau is a pole of attraction for drought tourism. 2023 closed with more than 45,000 visitors, according to park data. The excursion to this almost dry space is a mix of sensations.
Many, like Toni and Laura, a couple from Aiguafreda, are overcome by grief and sadness, and others like Pepita González, who lived in this setting between the ages of 3 and 5, and Mercè Blanch, who as a child had the opportunity to see the town before it was buried, a lot of nostalgia. The visit is a shock of reality: There is no water. And apparently, in many cases neither is common sense.
