2023: Spain’s Sánchez Warns Drought Now A Major National Concern

BARCELONA, Spain — Spain’s prime minister told parliament on Wednesday that the country’s severe drought has become one of its top long-term problems.

“The government of Spain and I are aware that the debate surrounding drought is going to be one of our country’s central political and territorial debates in the coming years,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told the Madrid-based Parliament.

The territorial conflicts between areas over water that Sánchez mentioned are already visible in rallies against water rerouting and confrontations between farmers and ecologists.

Last month, Spain was declared under long-term drought after three years of meager rainfall and excessive temperatures.

According to the National Weather Service, the hottest year ever recorded was 2022, when average daily temperatures climbed above 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time since records began in 1961. Since the 1960s, the country has warmed by 1.3 degrees Celsius (34 degrees Fahrenheit), which is apparent all year, but especially in the summer, when average temperatures have climbed by 1.6 degrees.

The country’s severe drought has become one of its top long-term problems.

According to researchers and officials, the Mediterranean region is warming faster than the global average due to climate change driven by greenhouse gas emissions.

And there is no indication that the situation in Spain will improve in the next weeks.

Water constraints have resulted in the driest locations. Regional authorities in northeast Catalonia cautioned this week that unless estimates prove incorrect, Barcelona and a large surrounding area of about 6 million people might face a drought “emergency” by September.

The reservoirs that supply water to northern Catalonia have decreased to 27% capacity. Only reservoirs belonging to the Guadalquivir river basin in southern Andalusia have a lower capacity, at 26%.

Due to the drought, farmers are losing harvests in Andalusia and other agricultural areas.

On Wednesday, Spain’s agriculture ministry met with farmer organizations and local authorities in charge of irrigation management in Madrid. Agriculture Minister Luis Planas has committed to requesting that the European Union temporarily suspend common agricultural standards for Spanish farmers to expedite financial assistance for the sector.

COAG farmers and breeders organization representative Andrés Góngora said his group encouraged the ministry to take emergency steps.

“(The government must) issue an emergency decree so that it can adopt measures to address the catastrophic situation that many farmers and breeders are facing,” he said. “Unfortunately, there will be no green shoots this year, only a lot of red numbers.”

Spain’s woodlands also suffer as firemen battle blazes generally seen only during the year’s hottest months.

Sánchez, a Socialist leader who faces a general election in December, stated that one of his government’s priorities is to “help recover our rivers, improve our water purification and cleaning systems, and water reuse, and digitalize our water management.”

“This is our responsibility, our duty because the challenge we face from climate change and water stress is evident,” Sánchez stated.

SOURCE – (AP)