Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Iran: Fars News Agency: A woman and her 6-year-old son were killed in an Israeli drone attack on Kermanshah Province
Iran: IRNA: Attack Wave 21 was not carried out, and the operation carried out minutes ago was from Yemen against targets in the occupied territories
Sirens are sounding in Tel Aviv and surrounding areas
Israeli military command: We identified missiles launched from Iran
Tunis: The legitimacy created by World War II is crumbling and the future belongs to free peoples of the world
Tunis: We emphasize that the aggression against Iran should not obscure other ongoing crimes, the first of which is the war of extermination against the Palestinian people
Tunis: International legitimacy does not permit or justify aggression against Iran under any cover or title
Tunisia: Foreign Ministry: We call for an end to the aggression against our sister country, Iran, and we do not limit ourselves to condemning the Zionist and American attacks
Iran: Nur News: An Israeli aerial assault is targeting the region of Parchin, east Tehran
Iran: Iranian TV: Iranian air defenses shot down an Israeli Hermes 900 drone over Markazi Province, central Iran

Drought forces water restriction in Spain

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 8 Aug 2022 09:56
4 Min Read

Spain is experiencing its driest period of weather in more than a thousand years.

  • x
  • Drought forces water abstinence in Spain.
    Drought forces water abstinence in Spain.

In the face of a historic drought and the threat of desertification, Spain is reconsidering how it spends its water resources, which are primarily used to irrigate agriculture.

"We must be extremely careful and responsible instead of looking the other way," Spain's Minister for the Ecological Transition Teresa Ribera said recently about the impact of the lack of rain.

Following an abnormally dry winter, Spain, like France and Italy, has been gripped by many intense heatwaves this summer.

As a result, the country's reservoirs were just 40.4% full in August, 20 percentage points lower than the 10-year normal for this time of year.

Read next: Driest July affects crops in Europe

Officials have responded by restricting water use, particularly in the southern province of Andalusia, which produces a large portion of Europe's fruits and vegetables. Reservoir water levels in the region are exceptionally low, with only 25% of their maximum capacity.

"The situation is dramatic," said University of Jaen hydrology professor Rosario Jimenez, adding that both underground aquifers and surface bodies of water were running low.

She went on to say that the issue is especially concerning because it is part of a long-term trend tied to climate change.

According to a study published last month in the journal Nature Geoscience, parts of Spain are the driest they have been in a thousand years due to an atmospheric high-pressure system caused by climate change. Greenpeace estimates that 75% of the country is susceptible to desertification.

'Overexploitation' 

Related News

Spain rejects NATO's 'unreasonable' 5% defense spending proposal

China rebukes Trump on Iran, Spain, Italy call for return to diplomacy

Spain has constructed a massive network of dams to supply water to its farmers and communities.

During the twentieth century, the Netherlands erected 1,200 major dams, the most in Europe per capita.

Read next: Drought threatens Spain's 'green gold' harvest

According to the ecological transition ministry's website, this has allowed Spain to raise the amount of irrigated land it has from 900,000 hectares (2,224,000 acres) to 3,400,000 hectares, making the country's water management system "an example of success." But many experts say the system is now showing its limits.

The dams "had their use," but they also encouraged "overexploitation" of water and degradation in its quality by impeding rivers' natural flow, according to Julio Barea, a water expert with Greenpeace Spain.

'Europe's vegetable garden' 

Spain is the world's second most visited country, and large amounts of water are used in tourism infrastructures such as swimming pools and golf courses. But agriculture absorbs the bulk -- over 80% -- of the country's water resources.

It is occasionally used to cultivate products that do not grow well in a dry climate, such as strawberries or avocados, for export to other European nations.

Read next: Britain, France experience record-level scorching hot weather

Spain's use of irrigation "is irrational", said Julia Martinez, biologist, and director of the FNCA Water Conservation Foundation. "We cannot be Europe's vegetable garden" while "there are water shortages for the inhabitants," she added.

Last month, Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government approved a strategic plan to adapt Spain's water management system to "the effects of global warming." It includes measures to promote water recycling and "efficient and rational" uses of resources.

But specialists say that reforms remain timid, with many regions continuing to increase the amount of irrigated land.

Read next: Eurozone inflation hits yet another record

  • Spain
  • Climate change
  • Italy
  • Climate crisis
  • Drought
  • France

Most Read

Iran launches 9th wave of Op. True Promise 3, destroys IOF air defense

Iran launches 9th wave of Op. True Promise 3, destroys IOF air defense

  • MENA
  • 17 Jun 2025
Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025 (AP)

Wave 12 of Operation True Promise 3 launched, Sejjil deployed: IRGC

  • Politics
  • 18 Jun 2025
Israeli workers survey the site where a missile launched from Iran struck in Haifa on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP)

True Promise 3, wave 20: 40 missiles launched, Kheibar-Shekan in first

  • Politics
  • 22 Jun 2025
Iran launches missile barrage to Tel Aviv, casualties reported

True Promise 3, wave 14: Tel Aviv targeted, casualties reported

  • Politics
  • 19 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani, speaks with then-Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis in a meeting in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, January 17, 2017 (AP)
Politics

Iran holds the initiative after nuclear strikes, Shamkhani says

Blood stains a religious painting inside Mar Elias Church, where a suicide bomber detonated himself in al-Dwela, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, on Sunday, June 22, 2025 (AP)
Politics

UN, regional governments condemn Damascus church bombing

A B-2 bomber arrives at Whiteman Air Force Base Missouri, Sunday, June 22, 2025, after returning from a massive strike on Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday (AP)
Politics

Israeli media: US-Israeli strike on Iran failed to end war

China UN Ambassador Fu Cong addresses the United Nations Security Council, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Politics

China slam US strikes on Iran nuclear sites

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS