GUARBA, Spain — Plastic water jug in hand, Joao Torrent walks a path into the forest in search of drinking water. He fills an 8 liter (2 gallon) container with water from a natural spring and takes it back to his home in Gualva. Gualba is a pretty village near Barcelona, but like many towns in Spain, it is suffering from the worst drought on record.
For Trent, walking for water several times a week is a bit of an inconvenience, but as Spain and other parts of the Mediterranean adapt to climate change, this may become more common.
“There used to be a lot of springs in Gualva. Now I think this is the only one left,” said Trent, a 64-year-old retiree, during a trip to the fountain leading to the spring. “For all of us… people don’t want to hear about water scarcity. In my opinion, I think people need to be more aware of water scarcity.”
Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region is expected to declare a state of drought emergency at a meeting of officials on Thursday, with reservoirs used by 6 million people, including the population of Barcelona, running at less than 16% of water, a historic low.
But Gualba and other small towns and villages across rural Catalonia have been in a state of crisis for months. So while Barcelona residents have not yet felt the effects of the drought beyond filling their private pools or not being able to wash their cars, thousands of people living in small communities that rely on wells are… It is currently depleted, making it difficult to obtain water suitable for consumption.
Gualba, an upscale village of about 1,500 residents, has been without potable water since December after the water level in the local reservoir dropped so low that it became undrinkable and could only be used for washing clothes and dishes. Most residents have to drive to another town to buy bottled water.