Just as the final preparations for Expo Zaragoza 2008 were coming to an end, water shortages started taking on alarming proportions across Spain. A particularly dry winter, low reserves and growing consumption combined to produce a crisis. Barcelona feared the worst. Fortunately, the rains finally came, and Spaniards sighed with relief. But this was not Spain’s first brush with near disaster as far as management of this precious resource is concerned, and it is unlikely to be the last. Brief overview of a country where concerns about water are part of daily life. 

A world of contrasts

• One of the European countries where water is scarcest 
• 40% of the area regularly threatened by drought 
• Per capita water consumption among the highest in Europe 
• Most dams per square kilometre in the world 
• 80% of water goes to agriculture 
• Soaring use of irrigation and huge tourist development in the south of the country 
• Forecast decrease in water levels due to climate changes

Legends & Credits(Top to bottom and left to right):
1 - A man and a dog cross a dried out reservoir in Eastern Spain.
    (AP, 2005)
2 - The unequal distribution of precipitations in Spain.
    (http://roble.pntic.mec.es/~jferna22/comenius/mapas/dib13.gif)
3 - The riverbed in Grenada, where the Beiro, Darro et Genil rivers meet.
     (picasaweb.google.com)
4 - Asturia in the North of Spain.
     (http://www.flickr.com)