Catalonia Declares State Of Emergency Amidst Worst Drought Record

The Spanish region of Catalonia has declared a state of emergency as it faces its worst drought on record.

From Thursday residents will be banned from washing their cars and filling up empty swimming pools under a measure brought in to tackle the crisis.

More than six million Catalans will be affected across 200 towns and cities, including the capital Barcelona.

The restrictions were announced after reservoirs fell to close to 16% of their capacity.

Other initial emergency restrictions will include a sharp reduction in the use of water for crop farming and industry and the capping of water supplies per inhabitant per day.

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The situation in Barcelona would be far worse were it not home to Europe’s largest desalination plant, built after the last serious drought in 2008, which supplies the city with 33% of its drinking water. A further 25% comes from recycled wastewater.

However, it costs three times as much to produce a litre of desalinated water through reverse osmosis as it does to take water from rivers and reservoirs.

It also consumes a lot of energy, not all of which as yet comes from renewable sources and therefore exacerbates the root problem by adding to global emissions.

As the Barcelona restrictions extend into summer, they are likely to fuel simmering resentment towards tourists, who are perceived as overwhelming public services, such as some bus routes, to the exclusion of local people.

Tourists consume much more water than residents. Research carried out by the hoteliers’ association showed that in 2016 a guest in a five-star hotel used 545 litres of water a day, compared with residents’ consumption of 163 litres. The association claims tourist consumption has since been reduced to 242 litres.