スペイン・バルセロナ：渇水続く

　スペインは、先日は南部・ヴァレンシアで大洪水が発生した。気候変動の影響を受けたものというべきだろうが、さてフランスにほど近いバルセロナではものっそい渇水状態が延々続いており―対応に難儀しているそう。

「As climate change makes rainfall more intense and infrequent, Catalonia's authorities face the task of providing water security and drinking water to millions.」

　気候変動が降雨をより強く・数少ないものにしてゆく。そうして自治体は水の保障、飲み水の確保に頭を悩ます。


BBC After intense flooding, Barcelona is still battling drought 22 hours ago

Frank Swain

　湧水が絶えるレベル。ひどい。ヤシの木を切り倒してしまう。枯れて倒れる前に、というわけだ。

「After several years of drought, it's dustier than ever. The shallow fountains have been drained, and the city has even taken to chopping down wilting palm trees before they can topple over. In eastern Catalonia, the three years from 2021-23 had some of the worst drought in recorded history.

But at certain points through winter 2024, beneath the park, a huge cistern 17m (58ft) deep becomes filled with cloudy rainwater. These are the two extremes the city finds itself in, where there can be too much water and still not enough.」

　一家庭・一日当たり200リットルの配当。それだとバスタブに満たせるかどうか。ということでお風呂に入れなくなる。海岸の公共のシャワー施設なんてのも運用できなくなる。庭の水まきもできない。車を洗うことも…。

「Households were restricted to 200 litres (53 gallons) of water a day – less than a typical bathtub. Using tap water to water gardens, fill pools, or wash cars was forbidden under threat of fines. Hundreds of public showers along the city's beaches were turned off. Reservoirs levels had dropped so low that they were emptied entirely as authorities began to pool the water into fewer ponds, as the shallow water threated to turn toxic when summer arrived.」

　ひとが住むには厳しい土地―になっていくかなあ…。オーストラリアの一部地域がすでにそんな勢いよねえ…。