By Walter Finch and Jon Clarke in the Serrania de Ronda
A SECOND town in Malaga has been ordered to evacuate as the historic Montejaque dam near Ronda fills to capacity for the first time in its 100-year existence.
Emergency services have today cleared 22 residents from Estación de Jimera de Líbar this afternoon as the crisis at the so-called ‘Ghost Dam’ intensifies downstream.
The move comes amid fears that an imminent ‘controlled overflow’ of the dam will send a torrent of water surging down the River Guadiaro, threatening the many homes along its banks.
Conservative estimates put the dam at just 1.2 metres from its brim this morning, while the Mayor of Benaoján told an Olive Press source it was at 1.6 metres yesterday.
This means the safety gap shrank by 25% in a single day.
At the current rate, the dam will begin overflowing by Friday morning, if not sooner, given the rain forecast for the rest of the week and continued runoff from the Sierra de Líbar and Grazalema mountains.
Jimera is the next major settlement downstream from Estación de Benaoján, where almost 200 people were forced to flee on Friday as a preventive measure.
Incredible new photos taken by an Olive Press reader on Tuesday show the water level sitting just centimetres from the top of the concrete wall – levels never before seen in the dam’s 103-year history.
Government technicians and utility company Endesa are now monitoring the structure 24 hours a day, while a strong Guardia Civil presence has cut off all access to the road above the dam.
It comes after a high-level COBRA-style meeting between two dozen technicians and specialists from all-around Spain met at Ronda’s fire brigade headquarters.
After the meeting, two of the attendees told the Olive Press of their concerns as the water level of the dam rose dangerously high.
Despite the comments and alarming visuals, authorities officially insist the situation is under control and the dam structure itself is stable.
Patricia Navarro, the Junta’s Delegate in Malaga, stated: “The dam does not present a risk of breakage.
“The only possibility foreseen is an eventual controlled overflow, which is part of the normal functioning of this type of hydraulic infrastructure,” she added.
However, the atmosphere on the ground is far less calm.
Police have blocked access roads, preventing vehicles from approaching the water level, while officers were seen engaged in ‘big discussions’ at the site.
British resident Paul Rolfe, who managed to snap photos of the swollen reservoir before being moved on by police, described a feeling of total uncertainty among those on the ground.
“There’s loads of police around where this new giant lake is at the dam,” he told the Olive Press
“They won’t let you drive in there now, they’re just moving people along. There’s loads of them all having just big discussions.
“It is all very uncertain… nobody knows what is going to happen”.
While engineers are confident the arch design will hold, locals are fearful of the geological unknowns of the structure, which was originally abandoned in the 1920s because the porous limestone rock it is built on leaked.
There are fears among residents that the immense pressure could force water to bypass the dam entirely through the underground Hundidero-Gato cave system.
“If it pushes through that cave, it will come out the other side like an explosion,” Rolfe added.
“It would be like a tsunami… and the Hotel Cueva del Gato is right in the path the other side”.
As we went to press we attempted to speak to the owner of the hotel, which is now British owned.
In Jimera de Líbar, the community has rallied around the 22 new evacuees.
The local mayor has reportedly taken several displaced neighbours into his own private home, while others are being housed in emergency facilities at El Fuerte sports centre in Ronda, along with hundreds of other people from Benaojan and Grazalema.
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