Submerged villages in Portugal

Vilarinho da Furna, Aldeia da Luz and the “other villages that were put under water”

Abstract

Portugal has two paradigmatic cases of dam-induced displacement: Vilarinho da Furna, submerged in 1972, and Luz, in 2002. Although research regarding these two case-studies has occasionally mentioned the existence of several other similar events, those have not yet merited dedicated research. This void in the bibliography suggests Vilarinho and Luz are isolated episodes, obscuring their place as part of a wider network of events. Starting with bibliography on Vilarinho and Luz, this essay identifies those other cases and proposes the submersion of villages in Portugal as a phenomenon stemming from the construction of large dams under the electrification project of Estado Novo (1933-1974).