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France 24
France 24
Politics
Cyrielle CABOT

‘The country is becoming a desert’: Drought-struck Spain is running out of water

An aerial picture taken on March 22, 2023 shows a pier that used to float on the water lying on dry land due to the effect of drought, La Vinuela reservoir, Malaga province. © Jorge Guerrero, AFP

Spain is running out of water. After a long and painful drought, the country has been hit by an unusually early heat wave, evaporating even more of the "blue gold" it still has left in its reservoirs. While farmers fear for their survival, environmentalists say it is time for “Europe’s back garden” to rethink how it uses and manages its increasingly scarce water supply.   

There’s an expression in Spain: “En Abril, aguas mil” –  April will bring the rains. Only this year, it didn't. The month of April was the driest month on record, and several Spanish cities registered their highest April temperatures yet. In Cordoba, the mercury rose to 38.7°C (almost 102°F) at one point, and in the province of Seville in Andalusia to 37.8°C.

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