Like France, Spain is also considering introducing new rules in hotels due to water shortages.
Water restrictions would be introduced in the north-eastern part of Catalonia, and tourists in hotels could use a maximum of one hundred liters of water per person per day, if the settlements fail to maintain the residential water restrictions for three consecutive months.
One hundred liters of water does not seem so little, but the residents of Barcelona, for example, use one hundred and sixty liters of water per person per day, although even this is far short of the current limit of two hundred liters.
Tourism accounts for nearly 12 percent of Spain’s economy, but environmental groups are putting increasing pressure on policymakers to limit tourists’ water use during the drought, while Spain is also rebelling against tourism for other reasons.
According to the Barcelona Hotels Association, in 2022 the average tourist in Barcelona consumed around 163 liters of water per day, while in luxury hotels this figure rose to over 240 litres. However, the restrictions on tourists would not include water used to fill swimming pools.
The Catalan government just recently relaxed the restrictions that prohibited the filling of swimming pools with drinking water.
Under the new measures, a privately-owned swimming pool can be filled in times of severe drought if authorities declare it a “climate shelter” open to residents fleeing the heat.
The regional government also modified other restrictions and, yielding to the demands of hotel owners, allowed the private use of desalination equipment.
Catalonia has been struggling with drought for a long time, although this year’s wetter spring eased the situation somewhat. The saturation of the reservoirs in Barcelona and the surrounding area rose from fifteen to eighteen percent. In any case, the province continues to maintain the restrictions, which aim to reduce the average water consumption by eighty percent for irrigation, fifty percent for animal husbandry, and twenty-five percent in industry.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), El Niño, responsible for last year’s heat waves, droughts, and heavy rains, is fading, but this is not the end of the era of extreme weather events.
(Source: Independent, images: Getty Images)
Catalonia | hotels | tourists | spain | hotels
GET ON WITH IT
We no longer have to look for the best airport in the world in the Far East
An innovation to make up for the gap: trains in Germany are getting darkened kissing booths
Order the 15th issue of Roadster magazine!
Spring is upon us, and even better news, the latest Roadster magazine is here. What do we find in it? We meet the American visual artist Jim Denevan, who, in addition to traveling in land art, also runs a wonderful event planning company that organizes dinners in amazing places, from California to South Africa to Tuscany. We interview the organizer of the cult Iditarod Trail Race dog sled competition, the painter Márton Nemes who is preparing for the biennale, we get to know the Friluftsliv philosophy, we see what America’s backyard is like through photographer Arnaud Montagard, we cook at the 101 Bistro, and we also take a look at the latest collection of Totemism. we have once again created a spectacular 220-page trip with many stops, we think it will be worth signing up for it. On the other pages of the magazine, we report on the happenings in the refined world of travel, design, fashion, gastronomy, and everything that you can be passionate about in life, at our usual uncompromising standard.
I’ll check it out because I’m interested!
Tags: rules introduced hotels Hungarians favorite destinations
-
