Few figures can move more to someone who has followed the day to day of drought in Spain than is: 43,144. Those are, on May 5, 2025, the HM3 in the country’s reservoirs. 76.99% of the total. In recent time, we have never seen anything the same.
And yet the alarm signals.
And I do not mean only the general reports. That also: the latest Copernicus report, the European land observation system, despite focusing on the situation of central Europe, makes it clear that the situation in Spain is terrible.
It leaves no doubt: the vast majority of points in “alert” by drought of the European continent are on the peninsula.
But, as I say, the alerts not only come from obtuse community reports, they also come from the same hydrographic confederations that are prohibiting crops because, according to their calculations, the endowment of reservoirs is not enough.
The Granada example. When the Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation (CHG) announced the maximum endowments for irrigation for this year, “the worst omen were confirmed.” The accounts did not give, the regable areas of the province of Granada were going to continue with the greatest restrictions because their water reserves had not improved at the same level as in the rest of the basin.
That is, the global figures and even the figures per Cuenca were not enough to know how the country was really: there are entire areas that, despite being part of water full of water, are not going to leave the drought behind.
And what does this imply? Well, for example, farmers in La Vega de Granada who have sown winter crops will not be able to plant anything in summer. It is not a new measure, it was already implemented in 2023. The problem is that no one was expected and constitutes a blow to the rentier of a sector accustomed to using the rotation to finance the following crops (as they explain in ideal, “the corn that is now planted are paid expenses and income from winter crops”).
That is, despite the water, many areas will have a bad time. Because no, it is not a problem that only affects Granada. Much of southeast (regardless of the basin), the Balearic Islands or some areas of the interior will have water problems and will not be able to develop agricultural activities normally.
To that we must add all the crops that are delayed or are seeing how pests are primed with them.
In the background, it is a reminder that the drought problems that have been accompanying us for 10 years cannot be diluted in two springs. As we have said many times, droughts are managed with full swamps. It is now when you have to redouble efforts in infrastructure and management models. The restrictions may be necessary, but if we stay there … the most important step will be missing.
Imagen | Kshithij chandrashekar
In WorldOfSoftware | Spain has a huge problem with contaminated waters. These researchers believe that the solution is the poplars
