The acute drought afflicting Spain has become one of its leading long-term concerns. This was according to the country’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez.
“The government of Spain and I are aware that the debate surrounding drought is going to be one of the central political and territorial debates of our country over the coming years,” Sánchez was quoted as saying when he appeared at the Parliament in Madrid on Wednesday.
Already, the territorial tensions between regions over water that Sánchez referred to are being seen in protests over the rerouting of water and disputes between farmers and ecologists. as three years of scant rainfall and high temperatures has put Spain officially into long-term drought.
According to the national weather service, 2022 was the hottest year ever recorded, when average daily temperatures rose above 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time since records started in 1961. It added that the southern European country has warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius (34 F) since the 1960s, a warming that is noticeable all year round, but especially in summer when average temperatures have risen by 1.6 degrees.
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Water restrictions have been put in place in the driest areas as there is no sign of the situation in Spain improving over the coming weeks. Earlier this week, Regional authorities in northeast Catalonia said that Barcelona and a wide surrounding area that houses around 6 million people could enter a drought “emergency” by September unless forecasts prove wrong.
The reservoirs connected to the Guadalquivir river basin in southern Andalusia that have shrunk to 26% of capacity are second to the reservoirs that provide northern Catalonia with water that have shrunk to 27% of capacity.
Andalusia and other agricultural areas are bearing the brunt of the drought as farmers lose crops.
Spain’s Agriculture Minister Luis Planas committed to asking the European Union to temporarily relax common agricultural regulations for Spanish farmers to help speed up financial help for the sector when the ministry met with farming associations and local authorities charged with irrigation management in Madrid on Wednesday.
Spain’s forests are also suffering as firefighters battle blazes that are normally not seen until the hottest summer months.
Sánchez, a Socialist leader who faces a general election in December, maintained that investing heavily to “help recover our rivers, improve our water purification and cleaning systems and the reuse of water, and digitalize our water management” remains a priority under his government.
“This is clearly our responsibility, our duty, because the challenge we face from climate change and water stress is evident,” Sánchez said.
Story was adapted from Reuters.
