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NASA satellite images in 2022 revealed a vast white area in southern Spain, the result of a massive discovery by farmers: a complex of greenhouses visible from space.
In July 2022, the United States Space Agency (NASA) released satellite photos that caught global attention. Captured in May of that year, the images showed a huge white dot in southern Spain, a landscape drastically different from the green that had predominated in previous decades. This is the story of the discovery by farmers that transformed the region.
For the Spanish, the stain was nothing new: it was the “Sea of Plastic”, a gigantic concentration of greenhouses in Almeria, responsible for supply much of Europe with food. What was surprising was the extent of the change in the landscape observed from space, the result of this ingenious discovery by farmers.
Satellite images reveal unusual white spot in southern Spain
Landsat satellite photographs released by NASA have shown an almost unique structure formed by numerous white dots. Comparison with old records has shown a radical transformation in the Almeria region, previously known for its beaches and Europe's only desert, the Tabernas Desert, which has even served as a setting for Western films.
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The origin of the “Sea of Plastic”: an agricultural transformation in Almeria
Despite its arid surface, Almeria has significant groundwater reserves. Large-scale exploitation began around 1920, with the arrival of electricity. By the 1950s, the region was already producing olives, barley and table grapes. The big change began in 1963, with the construction of the first greenhouse, a simple structure made of wood and plastic.
Initially, there was resistance, but a heavy rain in 1973, which destroyed crops, led to the adoption of greenhouses with government aid. Little by little, the cultivation of tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables replaced grapes, and the area covered by greenhouses grew exponentially, especially from the 80s onwards.
Impact and controversies of farmers' discovery
Today, there are more than 40.000 hectares of greenhouses in Almeria, forming what many consider the largest man-made structure on Earth, visible to the naked eye from the Moon. This impressive discovery by farmers made El Ejido the fastest growing city in Europe for a period and turned the region into the “vegetable garden of Europe”, exporting more than 80% of its produce.
Greenhouse farming accounts for 13% of the GDP of the province of Almería, rising to 40% when related activities are taken into account. Surprisingly, most of the approximately 12.500 farms are family-owned. However, success comes at a price: high water consumption threatens underground reserves, and the generation of plastic waste is an environmental problem, with some of it ending up in the Mediterranean Sea. There are also serious allegations of exploitation of immigrant labor in precarious conditions.
A local climate phenomenon and the debate over the future of greenhouses
Interestingly, researchers at the University of Almeria have discovered that the region is the only one in Spain that has not seen a rise in temperature since 1980. In the last five years, the local temperature has even dropped slightly, an effect attributed to the reflection of sunlight by greenhouses.
This agricultural model generates intense debate in Spain, pitting economic benefits and regional development against environmental and social impacts. The “farmer discovery” that caught NASA’s attention continues to be a complex example of the transformations that human activity can impose on the planet.
