Drought in Catalonia affects lifestyle

Three years of shortfall in rain has not only turned Catalonia in northern Spain high and dry, it has also brought drought to its doorstep if the rain is to continue its stray ways. To mark the change, all fountains in Barcelona, including its best known Magic Fountain, have been shut with a placard announcing, “Fountain turned off due to drought.” Swimming pools have been closed and showering facilities at swimming pools have been shut too.

Catalonia attracts 18 million tourists, and the tourist footfalls will diminish hugely. Local authorities are insisting that only recycled water should be used for gardening, for washing cars, and even for swimming pools. The shower facilities on the beaches have been discontinued. The erratic rainfall pattern that is showing up in this Spanish province has also been witnessed in France last year, and French vineyards are withering because of the drought-like conditions that come on the trail of the changed weather cycle.

Apart from the fact that the sever drought conditions point to the climate change crisis, the Spanish experience is also showing that there is need to change the urban styles of living, which includes a bath. As the water supply gets scarce, people are forced to change their living styles, and many of them are forced to use less water for a bath, and also turn economical in flushing the toilets and instead opting to fill the buckets and use them for flushing purposes.

And these stringent conditions remind one of conditions in a poor country with no steady water supply and tap system which brought water in plenty at the turn of a tap. Spain may not be a rich country compared to the Scandinavian countries in northern Europe, but it is a relatively prosperous country by global standards. But the weather pattern, including its rainfall, is forcing the local authorities and the people to adopt measures that have so far been identified with an impoverished country.

This brings home the fact that the weather is indeed a weathercock, and the slightest change in it brings people on to their knees. This raises the basic issue of the lavish living styles that had developed in Europe and other prosperous countries that developed in the wake of prosperity and good weather.

Prosperity is endangered because businesses like tourism depend on fine weather, which was one of the attractions of Catalonia. And as economic activity is affected by changing weather patterns, countries and people will get poor. For a long time, good climate as an economic factor got pushed into the background because it was assumed that it was human ingenuity that created prosperity. It is now evident that if weather fails, many other things fail too. And people have no option but to change their lifestyles and adopt measures of austerity.

Ana Miquel, 65, a retired hotel executive living in Barcelona, collecing five litres of water in a bottle told news website Al Jazeera, “We have no choice but to save water. It is silly to waste water when we have a chronic drought.”

Miquel Marti, a university professor in urban planning in Barcelona says, “We put a bucket in the shower to collect water then use it in the toilet. We take less water to wash up and make sure that the washing machine is not on a long cycle. We have to change the way we live.”

There is then a painful awareness among ordinary people that they have to lead frugal lives in many ways as the weather turns unkind. It is indeed a matter of debate and speculation whether the erratic rainfall in Catalonia is caused by human activities or whether there are other reasons for the change in the weather patterns.