the rain in Spain.........is nowhere in sight

[Autoplectic <autoplectic@xxxxxxxxx>]

<http://www.guardian.co.uk/spain/article/0,2763,1499894,00.html>

Spanish forced to ration water

Giles Tremlett in Madrid
Monday June 6, 2005
Guardian

Water is being rationed in half of Spain to save it for domestic use,
as parts of the country suffer the worst drought for 60 years.

Weeks before the tourist season starts, swimming pools are empty, city
fountains are turned off and golf courses ordered to reduce watering.

Some reservoirs in the south-east are more than three-quarters empty.
With no fresh rain expected in the affected areas until the autumn,
authorities have decided they must protect domestic supplies through
the busy summer season.

Eastern Spain is the worst hit, with the north-eastern province of
Huesca deciding not to fill public swimming pools this summer and
public parks and golf courses throughout Catalonia ordered to ration
use of non-recycled water.

Barcelona has turned off its public fountains for most of the day as
the authorities impose restrictions.

The Costa Brava in the north-east and the region south of Alicante,
both big tourist centres, are among the worst-affected areas. Public
showers on the south-eastern beaches of Murcia have been shut off.

Spain attracts more than 50 million foreign visitors a year, including
14 million Britons, most of whom will arrive over the next four
months.

In 27 towns along the east coast near Alicante a stable population of
150,000 is pushed up to 1.1 million in August.

Water pressure has been reduced in some areas and 95% of towns in
Catalonia, which is experiencing its worst drought since 1945, have
imposed restrictions. A handful of villages in the interior of
Catalonia and Huesca are having to distribute water in jerry cans.

Crops in some areas are being left to wither as irrigation, which
accounts for three-quarters of Spain's water, is heavily restricted in
order to save water for domestic use.

Farmers near the south-eastern city of Elche say they have been told
they can only water their crops for eight minutes a day. But
authorities say there is just enough domestic water available to get
through the summer.

"Problems of supply may get to households at the end of September," El
País newspaper warned in an editorial.

But little rain is expected before then. And there are concerns about
next summer.

Spain's Socialist-dominated parliament last week cancelled plans by
the previous People's party government to divert water from northern
rivers such as the Ebro to the parched south-east.

"Now everybody loses. The only winner is the Mediterranean Sea ...
which is where all our left-over water will go," complained Mariano
Rajoy, the leader of the People's party.

Spain will, instead, build desalination plants along the east coast to
turn salt water into fresh water.

Environmentalists, who were opposed to diverting water from the north,
have complained that desalination is not the best solution and want
restrictions on building for tourism in the south-east.

Spain is estimated to be building around 180,000 holiday homes a year,
with up to 40% for British buyers. Water consumption in the Balearic
islands had increased 15-fold between 1980 and 1995, a recent WWF
report said.

The environment minister, Cristina Narbon, has announced an emergency
€370m (£249m) package to stave off the effects of the drought and
prevent domestic rationing.

But while one half of Spain gasps for water, the other is well
stocked. Spain's green north-west has abundant supplies and the Costa
del Sol in the south was not expected to suffer serious problems this
year.

-- 
"Life sure is weird but what else am I to know?" [Jason Pierce]