April 30, 2024 (EIRNS)—Less than a month before the May 12 regional elections in Catalonia, with drought being residents’ main concern, according to the March barometer of the Center for Study of Opinions, the Catalan government is changing strategy. Gone is the idea of shipping water from the Sagunto desalination plant near Valencia.
On April 18, to tackle the consequences of the extreme drought that has been parching northeastern Spain for over three years, the Catalan government announced commissioning a floating desalination plant in the port of Barcelona and 12 mobile desalination plants in the Alt Empordà region. These are to guarantee drinking water supply to Barcelona and the municipalities of the northern Costa Brava over the coming months.
The emergency is real. Spring only raised water reservoirs supplying Barcelona from 15% to 18% of total capacity. Below 10% it gets very difficult to clean up the sediment-laden water.