Residents of the eastern Spanish region of Catalonia will be banned from washing their cars and filling up empty swimming pools under a raft of measures announced on Thursday to alleviate the region's worst drought on record.
The measures will affect around 200 villages, towns and cities, including Barcelona, and around six million people. They were adopted after reservoirs fell to close to 16% of their capacity.
The Iberian peninsula is at its driest in 1,200 years, a 2022 study showed, forcing officials in Catalonia to consider bringing in water by ship to Barcelona should it run dry, a measure adopted in 2008 when reservoir levels were close to 20% and fewer desalination plants were operating.
The local government wants residents to cut their water usage by 5% and farmers by up to 80%. Under a first set of measures which could be later toughened up if the situation does not improve, allowed water usage will be reduced to 200 liters from 210 liters per person a day in Catalonia.
