STNMTZ_20160228_08529.TIF | George Steinmetz

Andalusia, Spain
Much of Europe’s winter vegetables are grown inside a dense conglomeration of plastic-roofed greenhouses on the dry coastal plain of Southern Spain. Known as the "Mar de Plastico", or sea of plastic, it covers some 30,000 hectares. Protected to the north by the Sierra Nevada, the highest mountains on the Iberian Peninsula, the climate here is similar to North Africa, and the sea breezes keep temperatures moderate. Although intensive irrigation has created a water shortage, the greenhouses retain much of the artificial humidity, and many of the plants are grown hydroponically with recycled water.

Filename: STNMTZ_20160228_08529.TIF
Copyright: ©2016 George Steinmetz
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Andalusia, Spain <br />
Much of Europe’s winter vegetables are grown inside a dense conglomeration of plastic-roofed greenhouses on the dry coastal plain of Southern Spain. Known as the "Mar de Plastico", or sea of plastic, it covers some 30,000 hectares. Protected to the north by the Sierra Nevada, the highest mountains on the Iberian Peninsula, the climate here is similar to North Africa, and the sea breezes keep temperatures moderate. Although intensive irrigation has created a water shortage, the greenhouses retain much of the artificial humidity, and many of the plants are grown hydroponically with recycled water.