A secret war is raging over water in Spain and the American parcel service UPS is cutting 12,000 jobs

At the edge of the La Viñuela reservoir in Malaga, hidden under a can, a large pipe protrudes from the ground that illegally pumps out water. The region in southern Spain is known for its tropical fruits such as mangoes and avocados. But its cultivation is extremely water-intensive – and water is already scarce in Spain in winter.

In recent years, no rain has fallen to fill the almost dry lakes. But not only is there a lack of rainfall, there is also too much water being used – not least for agriculture.

The government has tried several times to reduce water consumption in the agricultural sector. Following the Israeli model, drip irrigation was introduced in the 1990s, in which plants are watered with small amounts of water through installed pipes. First of all, a success. But then consumption increased again. Because: Agricultural companies expanded their acreage in order to generate more.

Spain became the fruit and vegetable garden of Europe and established itself as one of the most important suppliers. In 2022, the sector achieved a turnover of 10.7 billion euros. The country is now the second largest agricultural power in Europe.

But the country has a structural problem due to the persistent drought. Many farmers raised the alarm last year due to crop failures. However, it is not yet known how much impact the drought will have on the sector in 2023.

A life without drinking water is now a reality

The population in particular suffers from the lack of water. The autonomous communities repeatedly decide that water consumption must be reduced: showers must be limited to five minutes, swimming pools may no longer be filled, cars may no longer be washed and gardens may only be watered twice a week.

One in four people in Malaga already live with water restrictions. In about forty municipalities the water is turned off at night. More than 80,000 people from Córdoba have been living without drinking water for almost a year and need to be supplied with tankers.

Raids against water thefts

But before a decision was made on the water restrictions, farmers had to slow down. However, not everyone accepts this – and instead they use illegal ways to get water: hidden sources, underground pipes, fake water meters, underground pipes. Police Director José Ramón Gallego says:

Police raids are increasingly taking place in rural areas of Andalusia. Not to detect illegal plants, drugs or weapons, but to detect water thefts. Last May, when the heat wave hit Spain, police discovered 250 illegal infrastructures used to extract water from rivers, dams or aquifers in just one day.

How widespread this phenomenon already is became clear in 2022, when 133 people were arrested for taking water from more than 1,500 illegal infrastructures.

Tourism contributes to the water problem

As Spain becomes a desert, tourists flock to Iberia. Like strawberries – which require 300 liters of water per kilogram according to the WWF – they also put a strain on water supplies.

The United Nations Environment Program estimates that a hotel guest's water consumption is between 440 and 800 liters per day. With so much water, the population can survive for several days. The average water consumption of a Spanish household is 140 liters per day.

This does not mean that tourists take longer showers, but the difference is mainly related to what the hotel provides: regular washing of beach towels, water treatment for clean pool areas, spa, watering lush plants, green lawns.

The estimate is consistent with a study from Barcelona showing that a tourist in a five-star hotel uses five times as much water as a city dweller. So far, tourists have not been affected by the water restrictions.

Not good prospects

Experts believe Andalusia needs 30 days of continuous rain before water supplies return to normal. The president of the regional government of Andalusia, Moreno Bonilla, has already announced that water rations are likely to be introduced in the summer for residents of the tourist hotspots of Seville, Córdoba and Málaga.

But not only southern Spain is suffering from the drought, Catalonia is also preparing for a state of emergency. The northeastern region is one of the places worst affected by the drought in Spain. If it doesn't rain soon, the cities of Barcelona and Girona will also face a water crisis.