A severe drought has rendered tap water undrinkable in several towns along Spain’s Costa Blanca, forcing holidaymakers and residents to queue at distribution points for bottled water to cover their basic needs.
The drought, now in its second year, combined with two years of spring heatwaves, has also reduced olive harvests, causing the price of olive oil, a staple of the Mediterranean diet, to double to a record high.
Because of this, for the first time, most cooking in Spanish households is now done using sunflower oil, with olive oil increasingly unaffordable.
On the Costa Blanca, the salinity of tap water has increased as water levels have dropped, prompting authorities in some areas to deem it unsafe for drinking or cooking. Bottled water is being distributed free of charge.
Costa Blanca residents wait to get drinking water as their tap water is unfit for consumption due to the drought, in Moraira, Alicante, Spain, on August 19, 2024. Photo: Reuters
Overdevelopment, climate change and mass tourism during the summer months, when the population of the popular Mediterranean destination swells, have exacerbated the problem, activists say.