Drought Emergency Declared for Barcelona

AFP/APP

Barcelona: Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region declared a drought emergency on Thursday for Barcelona and the surrounding area, which will now face tighter water restrictions following three years without significant rain.

The head of the regional government of Catalonia, Pere Aragones, announced the step after reservoirs in the Mediterranean region fell below 16 percent of their capacity.

That level is the benchmark set by the authorities for the application of a new round of water-saving measures that will affect some six million people.

“Catalonia is suffering the worst drought in the last century; we have never faced such a long and intense drought since rainfall records began,” Aragones told a news conference.

The emergency aims to lower the daily amount of water permitted for residential and municipal purposes from 210 to 200 liters (55 to 52 gallons) per person.

If the drought worsens, it could be lowered to 180 liters, and then to 160 liters.

The water use restrictions will apply to Barcelona and 201 surrounding municipalities from Friday, and they include a ban on filling private swimming pools and washing cars unless it is with recycled water.

Public gardens can only be irrigated with groundwater.

Agriculture and industry will face greater cuts. The emergency declaration aims to reduce water use for crop irrigation by 80 percent and for industry by 25 percent.

Several heatwaves recorded in Spain and wider Europe last summer worsened the drought, lowering reservoirs’ levels as water evaporation and consumption increased.