Barcelona experiences severe drought
By Alimat Aliyeva
There has been little rain in Catalonia for three years, prompting the authorities to declare: "The drought! Help save water", "Save water! "There will be no more rain from the sky," encourages them to spread warning messages, Azernews reports, citing foreign media outlets.
A few weeks ago the Catalan government declared a state of emergency due to drought. Tourists are now informed about the alarming situation at the airport, including in the subway and in hotel rooms, where special brochures with tips on saving water are posted.
Catalan residents believe that sooner than expected, water will become the oil of the future, a scarce and expensive commodity. Farmers already have to save a lot of water, trees and flowers can no longer be watered with drinking water. Both the showers on the beach and the fountains in the squares are inactive. In many hotels, there are no traffic jams in the bathrooms, preventing guests from entering the bath, and it is forbidden to fill the pools. The owners of the hotels in Lloret de Mar Municipality purchased a desalination plant for the hotel's swimming pools for 1.5 million euros.
The Spanish Meteorological Service has not yet provided a definitive explanation for the ongoing drought. One thing is clear; most of Barcelona has not had enough wind to bring clouds and humidity for three years now. Desalination plants are continuously operating throughout the city, turning seawater into drinking water.
The price of water has already increased by 30 percent. Citizens are paying for the damage caused by the crisis. This can lead to social conflicts.
In September-October, Barcelona will host an important sporting event – the 37th America's Cup, the world's largest sailing race. It is expected that there will be more tourists in the city than usual. Environmentalists are wondering where the water will come from in such conditions.
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