After more than 1,000 days of drought (sequía de Catalunya), Catalonia declared a water emergency and imposed usage restrictions on residents of Barcelona and surrounding municipalities.
An estimated 500 mm of rainfall is needed to recover the water deficit, as reserves fell below 16% — the threshold that triggers an official emergency declaration. In some parts of Catalonia, it has not rained meaningfully for nearly three years, making this the worst drought in modern history.
Agriculture and industry have also faced restrictions. The regional emergency plan aims to reduce irrigation water for crops by 80%, livestock by 50%, and industry by 25%. The Tarragona region, supplied by the Ebro River, currently maintains better reserves. Emergency measures were already in place in northern Catalonia (Girona province), including a 20% reduction in agricultural irrigation.
While Spain has always experienced drought cycles, climatologists generally agree that the intervals between rainfall are lengthening as temperatures rise.
UPDATE 16 May 2024: April and May rainfall increased reserves from 15% to 26%, lowering the severity from Emergency to Exceptionality across almost all of Catalonia, including Barcelona.
UPDATE 23 July 2024: Continued rainfall in June and July raised reserves from 26% to 35%, reducing the severity from Exceptionality to Alert across nearly all of the Barcelonès region.
UPDATE 9 October 2024: Rainfall in August and September was insufficient to increase reserves, which dropped to 28%. This caused the Generalitat to raise the severity from Alert to Exceptionality in rural Girona. Barcelona and its suburbs remain at Alert. The Anoia–Gaià basin, which includes the Penedès wine region, has critically low reserves that may affect grape harvests and wine prices.
UPDATE 5 November 2024: A DANA storm system caused severe flooding in Valencia, but rainfall in Catalonia was brief and quickly drained to the sea. Reserves remain at 32%.
UPDATE 4 February 2026: After a very wet December and January, water reserves have recovered to 92.79% of total capacity. No water restrictions are currently in force.
Plans were considered to reduce water pressure, but these were shelved because Barcelona’s residents stayed within the daily consumption limits. Since most people live in apartment buildings, a pressure drop would disproportionately affect those on upper floors, making the measure impractical.
The Barcelona Drought Protocol established alert levels based on reservoir capacity. Because reserves have since recovered, the measures below are no longer in force.
Water consumption limits for residents (per inhabitant per day) were set according to the alert level and monitored through household water bills:
For context, a 10‑minute shower uses around 200 litres of water. According to the National Statistics Institute, Spaniards use an average of 133 litres per day.
At the time this article was originally written (16 February 2024), Barcelona was at Emergency Level I. The current alert level can be checked on the Generalitat de Catalunya’s official drought monitoring website.
Plans to reduce water pressure were considered, but the idea was abandoned because Barcelona’s residents stayed within the daily consumption limits. Since most people live in apartment buildings, a drop in pressure would have disproportionately affected those on the upper floors, making the measure impractical.
The Barcelona Drought Protocol established alert levels based on reservoir capacity. Because water reserves have since recovered, the measures below are no longer in force.
Water‑consumption limits for residents (per person per day) were set according to the alert level and monitored through household water bills:
For comparison, a 10‑minute shower uses around 200 litres of water. According to the National Statistics Institute, Spaniards use an average of 133 litres per day.
When this article was originally written (16 February 2024), Barcelona was at Emergency Level I. The current alert level can be checked on the Generalitat de Catalunya’s official drought‑monitoring website.
Yes. Tap water in Barcelona is completely safe to drink and undergoes the same treatment processes used in major cities worldwide. You can drink it, brush your teeth with it, wash with it, and use it for cooking without concern. The long‑standing myth that tap water in Spain is unsafe is simply untrue.
Public drinking fountains also dispense treated, drinkable water. The only exceptions are fountains clearly marked Agua no potable, which are turned off during drought periods as part of non‑essential water reductions. The image on the right shows a standard drinking fountain in Barcelona.
Some people feel that Barcelona’s tap water has a strong taste due to mineral content and treatment processes. Many residents therefore choose bottled mineral water, typically purchased in 5‑ or 8‑litre containers from supermarkets.
For tourists, bottled mineral water is widely available throughout the city in 500 ml, 1 L, 1.5 L, and 2 L bottles. Despite this being the third consecutive year of drought at the time of writing, there has never been a shortage of bottled drinking water in Barcelona.
Catalonia relies on a combination of reservoirs, rivers, desalination, and recycled water to supply Barcelona. As of October 2024, reserves were at 28%. Since the 2008 drought, the region has invested heavily in water‑security infrastructure, including large‑scale desalination plants that can be activated when rainfall is scarce.
The Sau Reservoir, near the village of Tavertet, was once a major water source for Barcelona and surrounding towns. During the drought, the reservoir dropped to 5% capacity, exposing the submerged village of Vilanova de Sau and the dry lakebed.
Update 23 July 2024: Thanks to rainfall in April, May, June, and July, Sau rose from 5% to 38% capacity, holding 63 hm³ of water (1 hm³ = 1 million m³).
Update 9 October 2024: Levels fell again to 18% capacity, containing 29.78 hm³ out of a total 165 hm³. Across Catalonia, total reservoir capacity is approximately 700 hm³.
ITAM Llobregat is Europe’s largest seawater desalination plant. Construction began in 2007 following the 2008 drought, and the plant opened in 2009. It can produce 200,000 m³ of drinking water per day — supplying around 33% of Barcelona’s needs — with an additional 25% coming from recycled wastewater.
Desalination is significantly more expensive than reservoir or river water. Producing one litre of desalinated water costs roughly three times more than treating river water, and the plant is not yet powered entirely by renewable energy.
For every 100 litres of seawater processed, 45 litres become drinking water and 55 litres become waste brine.
The seawater intake system consists of two towers located 30 metres deep and 2.2 km offshore. Water is pumped to a beachside station and then through a 3 km pipeline that runs beneath the Llobregat River to the desalination plant.
Pre‑treatment includes flotation, open gravity filtration, closed pressure filtration, and cartridge filtering. Reverse osmosis membranes then remove salt, and an energy recovery system (ERI) recaptures pressure energy from the brine stream.
To meet drinking‑water standards, the desalinated water is remineralised by passing it through a calcite (calcium carbonate) bed.
The plant does not store treated water on site. Instead, it is pumped 12 km to the Fontanta storage tanks. Brine is discharged via the Lower Llobregat wastewater treatment plant and released 3 km offshore at a depth of 60 metres.
The Llobregat River, originating in the Serra del Cadí and flowing into the sea near Barcelona Airport at the Llobregat Delta, provides part of the city’s drinking water.
The river has naturally high mineralisation (potassium, magnesium, carbonates) because it passes through the salt‑rich region around Súria, home to the Cardona Natural Salt Mine. Additional water is sourced from the Ter and Besòs rivers.
Aigües de Barcelona treats and distributes water to the city and 23 surrounding municipalities using one of Europe’s most advanced treatment plants, capable of producing up to 457,920 m³ per day.
River water is processed at the ETAP plant using a system similar to desalination. Availability depends heavily on rainfall and snowmelt from the Pyrenees. During drought periods, river levels are low.
The Llobregat River, originating in the Serra del Cadí and flowing into the sea just south of the city near Barcelona Airport at the Llobregat Delta, historically provided a significant portion of Barcelona’s drinking water.
The river has naturally high mineralisation (potassium, magnesium, carbonates) because it passes through the salt‑rich region around Súria, home to the Cardona Natural Salt Mine. Additional water was also sourced from the Ter and Besòs rivers.
Aigües de Barcelona treated and distributed this water to the city and 23 surrounding municipalities using one of Europe’s most advanced treatment plants, capable of producing up to 457,920 m³ per day.
River water was transported to the ETAP plant, where a treatment process similar to desalination was used to produce drinking water. Availability depended heavily on rainfall and snowmelt from the Pyrenees. During drought periods, river levels dropped significantly.
The Besòs Aquifer supplied Barcelona with drinking water until 1895. It became contaminated with seawater when the Besòs Water Tower extracted too much water under suction, allowing saltwater intrusion into the aquifer.
The Vallvidrera Reservoir was built between 1850 and 1860 by architect Elies Rogent to guarantee a water supply for the Sarrià district. The dam measures 50 metres wide, 3 metres thick, and 15 metres high, with a capacity of 18,000 m³.
The base of the dam contains a hollow inspection tunnel used for drainage and structural checks. The reservoir fell into disuse in the 1960s due to sediment accumulation. Today, it is preserved as part of Parc Natural de Collserola, but it no longer holds water and is typically a dry basin. The last time it contained water was in 2017.
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