Fruit trees in Aitona in Spain's Catalonian province of Lleida have burst into spectacular bloom with the approach of spring.
Orchards spread across 8,500 hectares of fields have produced a riot of colour to rival anything seen in Japan's famous cherry blossom season.
Thousands of tourists and locals head for the fields every spring to see the spectacle, but this season the flowers have a deeper significance after a year of thousands of coronavirus deaths and lockdowns halting normal life for most. "It symbolises the beginning of a new cycle, that is what we all hope for, that it is the beginning of a new cycle and that we have learned something positive from this year that has been very difficult," said visitor Adrian Conde as he admired