Brits going to Barcelona warned to shower less amid city's major drought

13 January 2024 , 17:55

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The frequency of heat waves has tripled in the country over the past 10 years (Image: Getty Images)

Visitors touring Barcelona are told to shower less and avoid golf courses as Catalonia deals with a record-breaking drought.

Residents in Barcelona have been told to limit daily water consumption to 200 litres per person, with emergency restrictions expected before the end of the month. In context, a five-minute shower on average uses between 75 and 90 litres.

Golf clubs are unable to water grass and guest numbers in hotels will have to be cut, according to the new rules. Despite being used to the hot summer months, Spain has seen a growing number of intense heat waves in other seasons, raising alarm among many scientists.

The frequency of heat waves has tripled in the country over the past 10 years, and the summer weather season has increased by 10 days per decade since the 1980s, with rainfall in Spain dropping to 17 per cent below the 30-year average.

Because of this, reservoirs in some areas of Catalonia in the northeast and Andalucia in the south are currently thought to be at just 15 per cent capacity. For the Catalan city, water bills increased earlier this month by 11-16 per cent, as well as in 22 other municipalities across the nation.

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The city is struggling because of the drought (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Catalan regional government spokeswoman Patricia Plaja said that it is likely that the region will enter an "emergency situation" before the month ends unless there is heavy rainfall. Back in December, reports suggested that plans were being made to ship between 20,000 and 30,000 hectoliters of water to the metropolitan area of Barcelona.

The Catalan government said that after 37 months of below-average rainfall, the situation of the reserves is critical. As well as that, the Catalonian government is deliberating whether to fine tourists for drinking too much water.

Many Catalan town councils have received fines from the Catalan Water Agency for using too much water in September. For instance, the town of Caldes de Malavella has received a fine of 24,181 euros for exceeding the then-maximum consumption of 230 litres per inhabitant per day as 296.26 were consumed.

Zesha Saleem