Something is Changing

“In the spring, the winter snow begins to melt and the water fills the valley full of life and colours.”

Glacial fed from high up in the Pyrenees, the Río Ara is Spain’s last free-flowing river. And it’s drying up.

Mikel Sarasola and Jan Larrue have reunited each spring in the Pyrenees, brought together by a common passion and shared dreams to explore the rivers of their homeland. In 2022, they rushed to attempt a top-to-bottom descent of the Río Ara, starting with the rarely-run Upper Ara and ending with the uber-classic Lower Ara before the water dropped out from under them. With the season growing increasingly shorter, they worry that the community will disappear, too.

“I would like to think that ours won’t be the last generation to enjoy these rivers that give us so much… But I’m not very optimistic now.”