The flash flooding that hit the region of Valencia last month, killing 239 people, would seem to suggest Spain does not have a problem of lack of water. In some places, more rain fell in a day than in a whole year.
That natural disaster, one of the worst in the country’s modern history, however, was one of extreme weather, known as a ‘DANA’ (depresión aislada en niveles altos), and not representative of Spain as a whole. DANA weather systems are formed when an area of low pressure gets ‘cut off’ from the main flow of the jet stream. As a result, instead of moving through a region relatively quickly, they get blocked over the same area producing persistent rainfall for days.
In stark contrast, other parts of Spain have recently suffered prolonged bouts of drought (in November 2023 nine million people, one fifth of the population, faced water restrictions). Both the tragedy in Valencia and persistent droughts have brought home the rising threat of climate change for which Spain, like so many other countries, is unprepared. Last month was the hottest November in Spain since records began more than 60 years ago, according to the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet). The average temperature was three degrees higher at 12.4ºC, and, despite the torrential rain from the DANA, Spain’s total rainfall was 40% lower than normal for November.
As climate change intensifies, Spain’s water management faces significant challenges, and this in a country which has a wealth of tradition and culture in relation to the careful use and exploitation of water; Romans, Arabs and other civilisations that settled in the Iberian Peninsula were more mindful than we tend to be today of the need not to waste water. The Alhambra and Generalife in Granada, the Aqueduct in Segovia and the Water Court in Valencia, the oldest existing institution of justice in Europe, bear testimony to this.
Water management suffers, as do so many other issues, from political polarisation and the lack of cooperation and coordination between Spain’s four levels of government (central, regional, provincial and municipal). The authorities’ initial response to Valencia’s deadly floods was woefully inadequate. The civil protection agency (Agencia Valenciana de Seguridad y Respuesta a las Emergencias or AVSRE), which is overseen by the Popular Party-led regional government of Valencia, only sent out a text message warning residents hours after the first floods were reported. Help from the Socialist-led central government, which said it was up to the regional government to ask for what it needed, was slow to come in the first days. While an army of volunteers stepped into the gap, political opponents wasted no time in starting a blame game.
The water problem is well known and has been endlessly diagnosed, particularly in a 600-page long White Paper published in 2004, but little has been done, particularly executing planned hydraulic works, many of which have either not been started or are going way behind schedule. A project to channel Valencia’s Poyo ravine, which caused some of the worst flooding, was designed in 2006 and given priority in 2009 by the Hydrographic Confederation (Confederación Hidrográfica del Júcar) but was shelved by successive governments.
A report, published last month by the environmental consultant OIKOS, sounds alarm bells on Spain’s ‘increasing water stress’, which at 43% is well above Germany’s 34% and Italy’s 30%, but far lower than Israel’s dramatic 110% (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources, taking into account water’s environmental needs (Indicator 6.4.2.) (1)
| Country | % |
|---|---|
| Israel | 110 |
| India | 66 |
| Mexico | 45 |
| Spain | 43 |
| China | 42 |
| Germany | 34 |
| Italy | 30 |
| United States | 28 |
| France | 23 |
Agriculture is a huge and inefficient user of water, consuming 65%, while only generating 14% of the value of EU agriculture. Drip irrigation, which is more economical and efficient, as it falls drop by drop on the roots of plants, thereby reducing consumption and loss of water, is underutilised (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Key water facts in Spain
| Agriculture consumes 65% of water… | Drip irrigation provides 55% of water for irrigation… | 0.4% rate of renewal of water infrastructure… | €2/m3 average urban tariff…. |
|---|---|---|---|
| … but only generates 14% of the value of EU agriculture, excluding wine | … compared with 75% in Israel | … compared with an EU average of 1% | … compared with €3/m3 average urban tariff in the EU |
| Between 50% and 85% water cost recovery… | 25% water loss in Spain on average… | 98% of urban water is treated… | <5% of water consumed is desalinated water… |
| … compared with 100% in the EU Framework Directive | … compared with <10% ‘best practice’ target | … but only 30% tertiary recycled for re-use | … vs a 25% potential for irrigation |
Climate change has produced a sharp fall in Spain’s average annual rainfall and consequently more prolonged periods of drought, particularly in Andalusia and Catalonia, the two regions that attract the most international tourists. Tourism is a vital part of the Spanish economy (12.8% of GDP); last year’s record number of 85.3 million tourists was the main driver of economic growth. Water reserves in Catalonia fell below 16% in February, triggering a state of emergency that extended water restrictions in other parts of the region to Barcelona and the surrounding area.
The drilling of illegal wells –some estimates put the number at more than 500,000– and the excessive use of water in vulnerable areas, such as the Doñana Natural Space, one of Europe’s most important wetlands, which includes a Unesco-listed national park, and Las Tablas de Daimel, requires much stricter control. At Doñana, strawberry farms have depleted the aquifers holding groundwater. The first report denouncing the increasingly critical situation was made in 1988 and nothing began to be done until 2019, most importantly last December when the central government, which had been at loggerheads with the Popular Party regional government in Andalusia for two years, agreed a landmark €1.4 billion deal to help protect Doñana and diversify the local economy away from reliance on soft fruit. More than 1,000 illegal wells have been shut down.
Another problem is the defective infrastructure. Up to 25% of drinking water supplied in distribution networks is lost, well above the ‘best practice’ target of less than 10%. This is not just a waste but reduces the availability of water for other uses. The average price of water in urban areas of €2/m3 is lower than the €3 EU average and well below the €5 charged in some countries, encouraging wasteful and inefficient use.
Spain is a laggard in using non-conventional sources for water, which have been developed over the years, such as desalination plants and reclaiming water from a variety of sources, treating it and re-using it for beneficial purposes such as agriculture. OIKOS says only between 30% and 33% of total residual water treated undergoes tertiary treatment, which is the final phase of the wastewater cleaning process making it totally safe for re-use.
Valencia’s flooding left residents in the affected areas without basic needs including drinking water. When the supply was restored, people were advised to boil the water or use bottled water, a profitable business for water-bottling plants, some run by multinationals, particularly those in the immediate area of the disaster. This prompted questions in some quarters on whether restrictions should be placed on these companies in times like that of Valencia’s tragedy or more broadly during periods of drought.
Water governance clearly needs to be improved. OIKOS calls for the creation of a national water authority in order to better coordinate national, regional and municipal policies. It is to be hoped that the idea will not fall on deaf ears.
