Placards with the inscription: "Drought! Help save water". There has been too little rain in Catalonia for at least three years. The drought is severely affecting the local population and tourists, writes ARD.
Dam “Sau" 100 kilometers from Barcelona doesn't really offer anything special to see: it just supplies the Spanish metropolis with drinking water. Lately, however, visitors have been flocking around the dam anxiously looking down at the falling waters. Like Aphrodite from the foam among these waters, an old church suddenly appears, old houses from the last century also appear. The oar base suddenly found itself high above these ruins, far from the water – the rowers' boats are where the bank of the dam used to be.
The picture is quite ghostly, writes Sebastian Kisters from the public media ARD. The level of the dam has fallen below 10% of the capacity of the facility and there is already a real risk that the water cannot be used for drinking.
Extraordinary measures
The government of Catalonia already weeks ago declared a state of emergency because of the drought, the British public media BBC recalls. The thousands of tourists who visit Barcelona every day already at the airport, in the subway or in their hotel rooms receive brochures directing their attention to the aggravated situation. To brush their teeth with water in a glass, not from the tap, but in the toilet, if possible, to use the economical button on the cistern – tourists receive such recommendations from the city administration, we read more in the ARD publication.
When "water no longer falls from the sky"
There is a rumbling in Barcelona. You will often hear that water is becoming the oil of the future: a scarce and expensive raw material. Agriculture in Catalonia is now forced to conserve water on an unprecedented scale. Flowers and fruit trees should no longer be watered with potable water. The fountains are turned off, the public showers on the beach are also not working. In many hotels, the administration has even managed to remove the stoppers from the bathtubs to prevent guests from taking a bath.
Spanish weather forecasters are still unable to find a definitive explanation for the ongoing drought. Only one thing is known for sure: the Barcelona area has not had enough winds to bring clouds and moisture for three years now. Desalination plants around the city work around the clock to provide drinking water from the sea.
„Save water! She no longer falls from the sky!" – with such witty texts, the municipal authorities call for savings. The relevant posters have also been put up in the resorts of the Costa Brava north of Barcelona. Hoteliers there are very worried on the eve of the season. True, the pools are still full from last year, but when the weather warms up, the water will start to evaporate. And topping up the pools is prohibited.
In Lloret de Mar, hoteliers have raised 1.5 million euros for a new seawater desalination plant for the pools. “This is our only chance to keep the pools full in this dry period," says the head of the Association of Hoteliers, Enrique Dotras. The installation should be operational in May. Some hotels have already warned guests arriving for the Easter holiday that the pools and wellness centers will remain closed.
Social riots are not excluded
Some environmentalists, however, believe that the restrictions imposed on tourists are not enough and insist that tourism in general should be limited. “Since January, the price of water has already increased by 30%. Local people pay for this crisis, while tourism gets away with it. This can lead to social conflicts. They are already maturing," says Dante Maschio from the environmental organization "Water is Life".
Barcelona is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the world. And in the summer, a big sports event will take place here – the world famous sailing regatta "America's Cup". Then even more tourists than usual will flock to the city, Maschio says. Where will we find water for them too? – logically asks the eco-activist quoted by the German public media ARD.