The lithium would be used for electric car batteries and is described by the mining company as critical for Europe's transition to green energy
Portugal's lithium reserves are considered central to Europe's increasing demand for electric cars, but the villagers say it doesn't justify ruining their way of life
"It would destroy everything," says Aida Fernandes, as she looks across the valley where four opencast pits would border the village of Covas do Barroso in northern Portugal
Aida, like generations before her, farms cattle in this lush, unspoilt region which has UN Food and Agricultural Heritage status for its landscape and farming traditions
She deftly manoeuvres a tractor-load of brushwood which she's spent the afternoon cutting from common land owned jointly by the community Next she spreads the springy branches across the floor of the barn for bedding for her cattle
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