Drought in Spain: European vegetable garden dries up

There seems to be no end to the drought in Spain. It has barely rained for 36 months. As early as 2021 and 2022, people had to survive dry summers with extreme temperatures and wildfires. And: another dry summer is coming.

This is also a problem for us here in Germany, because Spain is by far the most important trading partner for fruit and vegetables in Europe – followed by Italy, France and the Netherlands. But the drought makes it increasingly difficult to harvest vegetables, fruit and grain.

In the interior of Catalonia, the situation is particularly critical. In the so-called Cuencas Internas de Cataluña, water reserves are only 26 percent. At this time of year, they should actually be around 76 percent. Some of the country’s most important orchards are located in this region.

The drought is also increasing in the Guadiana basin in Extremadura and Andalusia. The reservoirs there are still 34 percent full. Also of concern is the Guadalquivir area in Andalusia, where reserves are 25 percent, also 30 percent below normal. Extremadura is home to the largest grain fields. Fruit and vegetables are grown on a large scale in Andalusia. Olive oil also comes from this region.

“Not a single grain of grain” and a quarter less aubergines

The lack of water has hit agriculture in Spain particularly hard. On more than 3.5 million hectares of cultivated land, “we will not harvest any grain this year,” explains Extremadura farmer Daniel Trendo on Twitter. On the platform he shares photos and videos of his dry fields, where he grew barley and peas, among other things.

In total, the wheat and barley harvest in four regions of the country will be fully written off this year. In three other regions they will be severely affected, according to a report from the umbrella organization of farmers and livestock farmers.

Avocado cultivation also suffers from the lack of water. Because it needs a lot of water. But the slumps are also noticeable for other vegetables: in the first five weeks of the year, Spanish tomato production was 22 percent lower than normal, for cucumbers 21 percent and for aubergines even 25 percent.

Strawberries should grow despite the drought

But despite the extreme drought, the government of Andalusia wants to expand the water-intensive cultivation of strawberries, as announced this week. That creates a lot of excitement. This week, the conservatively-governed region of Andalusia announced it would expand its allowable area for water-intensive strawberries by about 800 hectares directly on the Doñana wetland, threatened by desiccation and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the province of Andalusia. southwest of the country.

Environmentalists and researchers are sounding the alarm. The EU threatens with sanctions and Unesco warns that the Doñana National Park will be removed from the World Heritage List. The big problem is that the groundwater level in the national park has been falling drastically for years. The reason for this: legal and illegal wells are used to drain large amounts of water, mainly for fruit and vegetable plantations, but also for tourism.

Water is rationed

In some regions and cities, water is so scarce that it has to be rationed. So in the Catalonia region. The Catalan government has since had to ration water in 224 municipalities. Gardens and public gardens may no longer be sprayed with tap water. The public fountains have run dry. It was forbidden to wash cars and clean the sidewalks with water.

Another source of high-pressure water is being sought. Currently, the supply can only be maintained using contained seawater.

The risk of wildfires is increasing

The risk of wildfires increases with the drought. The first outbreaks are already taking place – unusually early in the year. Thousands of hectares of forest burned down in the eastern provinces. In Valencia, more than 1,600 people had to leave their homes.

2022 was Spain’s worst forest fire year so far. Nearly 310,000 hectares of forest burned – four times the average over the past 15 years. And for this year, the end does not seem to be in sight.

It is a matter of time whether and for how long the current products can still be grown in Spain. Now the whole of agriculture has to think again.

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