The Spanish Blog is a regular contribution by the members of the Spanish Honor Society that focuses on issues and topics related to places where Spanish is spoken.
By VINCENT WANG
Southern Spain, with its blistering temperatures has some serious environmental problems. Throughout the entire country, water reservoirs have been depleted, but cities in Southern Spain face a more pressing issue: their reservoirs have completely dried up.
As well as placing a strain on individuals water usage, the lack of water is negatively affecting the economy. Businesses are suffering due to the water issues. Livestock and dairy farmers in southern Spain are in peril because of the large quantities of water animals demand. Bakeries also are facing troubles since ice-cold water is necessary for various bread making processes.
According to the New York Times, if the water issue is not addressed promptly, the regions’ GDP could soon drop by 7%, and potentially up to 74% in years to come. Sophomore Ginkgo C. expressed her concern. She said, “I am also worried about the area’s economy.”
Sophomore Jennifer H. is concerned about this crisis. She said, “Clean water is a basic necessity that everyone should have access to. It’s disheartening that water deliveries are greatly needed and that the people in power are doing almost nothing to help.”
Many strongly believe that Spanish politicians should be doing more to help, as their constituents in Southern Spain are depending on a solution to their water crisis to solve their economic woes.
Additionally, global climate change causes record low rain levels, and without rain, the reservoirs cannot function properly, exacerbating this issue.
Spanish language teacher Señora Tomkiel feels it is very unfortunate that this situation is happening in this day and age.
Señora Tomkiel hopes new officials will be elected to resolve the problem. She also hopes that they can find help from other countries, or possibly develop new solutions to accelerate the development of new infrastructure.