The severe drought that Catalonia is experiencing attracts media spotlights from around the world. The New York Times (NYT) has been one of the last to report on the alarming water situation in Catalonia. In a video broadcast on its social networks, the American newspaper reports that it is “about worst drought in decades”. Using the Sau reservoir to illustrate the situation, the importance of this water reserve for a large part of Catalonia, especially Barcelona, is explained.
“A medieval church submerged under water when the swamp was created has fully emerged again,” they highlight from The New York Times. The photo of the again dry church in Sau it is becoming the image of this terrible drought, inside and outside the country.
Fuente: The New York Times
Other international media
He Seattle Times, The Guardian o Washington Times These are some of the international newspapers that have reported on the severe Catalan drought. Like The New York Times, the BBC has set in the church of the reservoir of Sau to narrate the situation. “In recent months, it has become the most visible symbol of the worst drought this area has seen in living memory“, sums up the British media.
The BBC points out that the bad situation in Catalonia is especially worrying, but remember that other parts of the Spanish state are also experiencing drought problems, such as the Guadalquivir basin. However, it is recalled that the Mediterranean areas are the most susceptible to climate change and its effects.
If it doesn’t rain, in emergency phase in September
The days go by and the rain still does not come. Faced with this situation, the Government and the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) are working on the application of the drought plan, but this cannot prevent the situation from leading to a national emergency without rain. Specifically, the Government spokesperson, Patrícia Plaja, has warned that, if it does not rain, Catalonia could enter the emergency phase in September. “The drought situation is the country’s main problem,” she declared.
A few days before, the Minister of Climate Action and Rural Agenda, Teresa Jordà, already warned of the seriousness of the situation moving forward: “We have to prepare as if it never rained again.” With these words, she Jordà remarked that, due to climate change, water scarcity will become a recurring situation. The minister expressed her willingness to commit to infrastructures that provide the entire Catalan territory with more water resilience in the short and long term. That is, not only specific measures that are buried when the drought ends.
