For several years, Spain has been particularly affected by drought. And the challenges that the country will have to face are numerous and often unprecedented. Video explanations.
It is simply unheard of. According to the Spanish Meteorological Agency (Aemet), Spain experienced in April 2023 the hottest and driest month since the start of weather records in the country. This heat wave followed several months of drought, after 2022 was considered the hottest in Spain’s recent history.
>> Drought: Spain adopts a plan of more than two billion euros to fight against the lack of water
This situation prompted the government to announce in mid-May an emergency plan of more than two billion euros, intended mainly for the agricultural sector – the lack of water having prompted many farmers to give up spring sowing, in particular grains and oilseeds. But it is indeed the whole country that will have to face four major challenges in this new “water war”.
The barrage of discord
“Without water, we cannot live here!“In 2022, faced with a lack of water, a Spanish dam blocked the water from a river destined for Portugal. Because, like its Spanish neighbour, Portugal is a victim of global warming and water shortages are putting the agriculture in both countries at risk.
However, five of its great rivers have their source… in Spain. In 1998, the Albufeira Convention framed the water flows that Spain must allow through Portugal. But, last autumn, Madrid did not respect this agreement by withholding water from the Douro River, in the huge dam ofAlmendra, causing great tension.
The scourge of illegal wells
According to Greenpeace, there are over a million illegal wells in Spain. These clandestine boreholes, used for intensive agriculture, sometimes draw water directly from natural parks.
In Andalusia, 26 million cubic meters of water have thus been diverted for the cultivation of avocados or mangoes. These tropical fruits are particularly water-intensive. The damage to the hydraulic public domain is estimated at more than 10 million euros.
A worrying data center project
There multinational Meta of Mark Zuckerberg wants to set up a huge data center in Spain. To install its 102 hectares of hangars there, it has chosen a protected nature reserve in the region of Castilla-La Mancha.
Intended to develop the metaverse and artificial intelligence, this project is controversial in the country. Meta expects to use 600 million liters of water per year for its operation.
Tourism in the sights
Barcelona is one of the most touristic cities in Europe. In 2022, it hosted 6.7 million tourists in its hotels, almost as many as before the pandemic. Forecasts for 2023 give a record year for this sector, even with inflation.
While the lawns of the capital of Catalonia were yellow in the spring, the weight of mass tourism on the region’s water resources is pointed out. Hotels consume between 8 and 12% of all the water available in Barcelona.