by Standing in a field of apple trees in Catalonia, fruit and grain farmer Ramón Falguera looks worried.
Last year, fruit harvests fell by around a third and wheat by half due to a lack of rain and restrictions on water use in this area of north-east Spain.
The water canal used for irrigation the farmlandwhich originates from rivers born in the Pyrenees mountains, it was only opened for a month last spring for the first time since it was built 160 years ago.
The IS drought It is thought to be the worst in 200 years, hitting large areas of the region after more than three years of low rainfall and record high temperatures due to climate change.
With no end in sight, farmers like Falguera are worried that the water they rely on for irrigation will be cut off again.
How are Spanish water restrictions affecting farmers?
In early February, when reservoir levels in parts of the region fell below 16 percent, the government declared its state of emergency in many areas in Catalonia.
Pere Aragonès, head of the regional government, announced restrictions across several different sectors. The amount of water that the agricultural sector – the biggest consumer of water – could use to irrigate crops was cut by up to 80 percent.
For Falguera, the lack of rain and local water restrictions will likely mean two irrigations this year instead of the usual eight.
The situation was already critical for irrigation farmers in parts of Catalonia, according to David Saurí, a geographer at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and an expert in water management.
In some parts of the region this is the third year that many farmers have not been able to irrigate their crops adequately. This had a knock-on effect on entire communities. Sári calls it a “disaster”.
In March, Aragonés eased some of the measures initially imposed on the agriculture and cattle industry after pressure from those sectors.
Both ‘bad guys’ and ‘good guys’ use water
Although the agricultural industry is only responsible for 3 percent of the region’s economy, many argue that it should be considered an essential industry. Instead, farmers in many parts of the region “feel badly treated” because of the lack of water, says Saurí, “while other economic sectors do not have these problems.”
This includes the tourism industry. Although the sector is forbidden to fill swimming pool with fresh water in hotels and campsites in many areas, Aragonès rejected calls to enforce additional restrictions on the sector, such as banning cruise ships from docking in the port of Barcelona.
On March 20, it is reported that 40 activists cut off the water from the Barcelona Tourism office, asking for stricter restrictions on the sector.
According to Saurí, it is estimated that the average tourist in Barcelona consumes at least 60 percent more water compared to the average resident. But he is quick to admit that tourism is not a monolith.
“Tourism is not what we would call the ‘bad guy’ of the film … but there are a lot of ‘bad guys’ and a lot of ‘good guys’. All tourism is not the same,” says Saurí, explaining that people in campsites consume less water compared to those staying in high-end hotels.
He also said that in agriculture and cattle farming there are also big interests and businesses.
The tourism sector committed to desalination
The tourism industry has already been implementing water saving methods for several years to reduce their bills, according to Saurí. These include more efficient showers and toilets.
But in one of Catalonia’s coastal tourist destinations, Lloret de Mar, the local hospitality association is now going a step further.
Due to the current restrictions, mobile phones have been purchased at Lloret hotels desalination machine for a reported €1.5 million to serve around 200 hotels.
“When we have removed the salt [from the seawater] we will fill the swimming pools of the hotels,” says Enric Dotras, president of the association. Currently, the machine can generate 50 cubic meters of water per hour, but he adds that this will be increased in the future if necessary. It claims to generate sufficient amounts of water.
“We are a tourist destination … where tourists usually enjoy the installations [in the hotels],” he says. “We have to keep this in mind if we want to keep these businesses, and the indirect and direct jobs that come with them.”
Why are desalination plants controversial?
Tourism represents more than 20 percent of the local economy of Catalonia.
In January alone, one million tourists stayed in hotels in Catalonia, and over 22,000 worked in hotels. This usually increases significantly in the summer months, raising concerns about the increased pressure on water resources.
According to Saurí, if it doesn’t rain this summer, tourism in the region will suffer. But he warns that the private use of a desalination plant by the tourism industry could create frustration from other sectors that do not have the economic capacity to pay for a plant.
“[Farmers] They’re told not to irrigate because there’s a drought, and they’re seeing a campsite or hotel nearby … with a full pool,” he says.
Greenpeace is also concerned about the environmental impact of desalination plants.
A recent Accenture report found that the plants increase energy use up to 23 times more than traditional water sources. He noted the significant risks to marine life from the disposal of brine, the residue left after desalination.
“It can kill all the marine flora,” says Saurí, adding that it has to be managed very well.
What are the alternatives to Spanish water?
Despite these environmental risks, many in the agricultural industry also consider desalination to be one of the few ways to provide enough water to ensure industries can stay afloat.
The Catalan government announced last year that almost €500 million from EU funds would be invested in desalination plants, but it will take years to see any positive effect.
Many believe water systems across the region should also be updated. According to the region’s water management agency, the Agència Catalana de l’Aigua, in 2022 Catalonia lost a quarter of its water due to leaks.
Pol Dunyó Ruhí, a small farmer of organic holders in the province of Barcelona, says that water reuse and other options should be launched to improve water management.
“I think the restrictions are absurd, and really unfair,” he says, but he says some farmers are using wasteful irrigation techniques when they could be using more efficient methods.
“I don’t know if it’s because the farmers reject it, or if there’s no support for this kind of installation … but it doesn’t make sense,” he says.
He also notes that constraints should be applied with an ecological approach, emphasizing how farmers those who use water more prudently by cultivating large fields of corn—a high-water-use crop produced to feed industrial chickens and pigs—are treated no differently.
For Falguera, more modern irrigation systems are also a necessary way to reduce water consumption. This includes drip irrigation: deliver water directly to plants through a network of tubes or pipes.
“With modern irrigation systems, we would be able to cope very well with the water we have this year,” he says. Four waterings would be enough to irrigate a fruit tree using a modern irrigation system, he says. “Water would not be wasted.”
Saurí notes that it is important to ensure that farmers do not have to stop cultivation. “If it doesn’t rain this summer, I don’t know what will happen,” he says.
