An ancient farming village in the Portuguese mountains is fighting plans to open opencast lithium mines on its doorstep.
Lithium is used in electric car batteries, and the mining company describes it as decisive for Europe's transition to green energy.
Portugal's lithium reserves are seen as key to Europe's growing demand for electric cars, but villagers say that doesn't justify disrupting their way of life.
"It will destroy everything," says Aida Fernandes, looking out over the valley where the four open pits will border the village of Covas do Barroso in northern Portugal.
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Meanwhile, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa resigned after authorities raided his official residence in an investigation into alleged corruption in lithium mining concessions.
Kosta stated that he has not been named as a suspect, but that due to the investigation he cannot remain in office.
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Aida, like generations before her, raises cattle in this rich, unspoiled area that has World Heritage status by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for its landscape and farming traditions.
She deftly steers a tractor loaded with dry branches that she has been cutting all afternoon on the common land owned by the community.
Then she spreads the supple branches on the floor of the barn for her cattle to sleep on.
The shared land is central to a dispute over plans to open a new open pit mine - the Barozo Project - which will produce lithium for 500.000 electric car batteries a year over its fourteen-year operational life.
But three-quarters of the mine depends on accessing lithium sediments found in bedrock on common land in the area, with the village as its majority owner.
Aida is the president of the Baldios, or common land association, which rejected a financial offer from the international mining company Savana Resources to lease the land, which is currently used for forestry and pasture.
The European Union wants to reduce dependence on mines in China, Africa and South America for lithium and other raw materials necessary for the transition to green energy.
The Barroso mine could be one of the first mass mines to supply Europe with lithium for batteries and in May Portugal's Environment Agency gave Savana Resources, based in London, a conditional green light.
They revisited the original proposal and agreed on changes such as not taking water from the local river.
A new road must also be built to bypass the villages and fill the open pits when mining is complete.
But the resistance is still strong and Aida says that in the meetings they held "no one was in favor".
She says that despite the changes, "this is not good for us or the environment" and that they will fight.
If no deal is reached, the Portuguese government could expropriate the land.
Savana also wants to buy private land from people like María Loureiro, who farms the land at the other end of the village.
She grows olive trees and has cows that waddle past us with bells dangling around their necks.
"We're not for sale, we don't want to sell ourselves," she tells me.
She abhors offers of compensation and compensation for the use of land rights.
"If I sold the land, what would I do?" she asks.
If the mine were to go live, she would also lose access to pasture on the common land.
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Fernando Queiroga, mayor of Botikas municipality, which also includes the village of Covas do Barroso, agrees with this.
He says that even if people receive compensation while the mine is operating, "they will never be able to return to agricultural production because they will leave or give up farming in the meantime."
He is completing the drafting of a court appeal against the conditional approval of the project.
"If the national courts do not rule in our favor, we will appeal to the European Court," he says.
The Covas do Barroso Parish Authority and the Common Land Association have also filed appeals in an attempt to stop the project.
Dale Ferguson, Australia's interim chief executive of Savannah Resources, says they have "listened to the community" and made changes, but admits "there is always some degree of environmental impact".
He claims that this mine is "of key importance for the energy transition in Europe".
He, however, admits that, with these appeals, "the courts will be the ones to pronounce the final verdict, but we respect everyone's rights and everyone's opinion".
Ana Fontura Guveija, Portugal's Secretary of State for Energy and Climate, supports the Barroso mine and further lithium mining in Portugal.
She says the mine will bring new jobs and funding through fees for the use of land rights in the area.
A lawsuit, she claims, is simply part of the democratic process.
But does she see it as a test case for the rest of Portugal and Europe?
"I see it as a case of best practice and we want to show you that you can do mining in Europe in the 21st century with the highest standards and for the benefit of local people," she says.
The rest of Europe will be watching the outcome closely, as pressure builds across the continent to open new mines for the raw materials needed for the green transport and energy future.
See: Environmental protests in Serbia due to planned lithium mining:
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