A tourist hotspot for Brits is currently heading towards a ‘critical condition’ as they continue with prolonged water issues, leaving much of the island without.
The Canary Islands, a popular holiday destination for British visitors, has officially passed an initial six-month water emergency through the General Board of the Insular Water Council of the Canary Islands. This means Lanzarote and La Graciosa are undergoing quick short-term solutions which will aim to tackle the bigger issue in due time. Currently, locals are expected to receive alternative water.
Then, the companies will work on building more sustainable water supplies, such as reservoirs, in due course. The measure received 23 votes in favour, three votes against and two abstentions.
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(Image: Getty Images)
According to Statista, Lanzarote had Just over 245,000 tourists in May this year, with the British making up 56.7% of foreign arrivals. The island has been dealing with a so-called “major drought” since earlier this year.
A breakdown of Lanzarote IV, one of the island’s desalination plants, left 17 towns without domestic water supply in September. All businesses were told they must have 48 hours of back-up water for such emergencies.
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However, locals pushed back in an attempt to get this bill passed. They wanted better solutions for an on-going issue.
Frequent water shortages have caused anger for years, particularly in the north of the island, where lack of water is a recurring issue. The problems are only made worse by the challenge of ageing infrastructure that results in over 55% of water being lost through leaks in the network.
(Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanzarote_Airport)
Other issues include a high demand for water in warm weather, the increase in tourism, lack of rainfall, and even illegal consumption. Some have linked up their own sources in the water system through frustration and have illegally been funnelling the water.
One of the bigger issues they were tackling was over consumption of tourism. Dante Maschio, a spokesperson for Catalan citizens’ association Aigua es Vida, said hotels and attractions should cut back on its water use. He told DW: “Measures taken so far to reduce water consumption in the tourist industry have been very limited. The sector enjoys a great deal of freedom.”
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