The Tinto River




Río Tinto

These photographs taken by Elisabeth Eguía belong to the Tinto River protected landscape, a unique place in the world due to its beauty and exceptional environmental historic conditions.

In the exhibition held in Barajas, Madrid, pictures, texts and graphic material explained the origin of the fascinating Tinto colours. Just until few years ago, scientists thought these colours were a consequence of the pollution produced by intense mining activity throughout the years. However, it has been discovered recently that it is caused by the great biodiversity of organisms that live in an ecosystem with one of the highest concentration of heavy metals in dissolution. This extreme habitat, one of the rarest in the world, presents an amazing similarity to the atmosphere of planet Mars.