THE BOOK OF SAND

“The Book of Sand” tells the story of the Dune of Valdevaqueros as a metaphor of the absurd will of humanity to dominate nature. It presents a multifaceted approach which delves into the social, environmental and political facts that led to the formation of the dune, relating it to philosophical questions. Being a global issue, It is about a local history that takes place in Punta Paloma (Tarifa, Spain) – an idyllic enclave in the Strait of Gibraltar, just 14 km away from Africa – where the dune originated as a result of the military intervention which took place in 1939, at the end of the Spanish Civil War. This operation radically changed the physiognomy of the area and generated long-term environmental and social consequences that remain to be resolved. The dune has been witness of stories of the military, frontiers, wars, deaths, climate change, immigration, oblivion, environmental degradation, which are all interconnected.