Re: Spains drying up
 

not flying or driving isn’t going to do a thing. Humans need to do radical things like block out the sunlight by using atmospheric particles or pumping stuff into the sea to get the microorganisms living that take in CO2. Just think how much Co2 the ukraine war has created.It’s just crazy how fast climate change has gripped Spain. Can humans even live there if there is no water. It’s scary times.

Re: Spains drying up
 

A direct green burial is a better bet at 12kg of CO2 as opposed to 200kg for a cremation.200kg is equivalent to driving 500miles.

Re: Spains drying up
 

That's what I'd prefer for myself, but as far as I know they are not allowed in Spain.

Srub that, yes they are but not very widely available as yet.

Is it possible to have an eco-friendly funeral in Spain? - Euro Weekly News

Re: Spains drying up
 

It's always a case of do as we say not do as we do with the rich, famous and powerful. Barack Obama, Steven Spielberg and their wives, and no doubt entourages of staff. flew into Barcelona on Thursday to see their friend Bruce Springsteen's concert there the next day., and no doubt they were in First Class or even a private jet so the emissions would have been higher. But the plebs are not supposed to fly for a 2 week holiday. I wonder why we bother worrying about it.

Dream dinner party guests: Obama, Springsteen and Spielberg delight Barcelona restaurant staff | Barcelona | The Guardian

Re: Spains drying up
 

Too true. And I suspect you are being generous saying they travelled first class on some commercial airline. Private jets most likely?

Re: Spains drying up
 

Stingychips is probably right and be it flying, driving and taking the ferry, it won't solve the real issues. I have no problem if Lynn R enjoys her holidays and is flying, I only have a problem when I'm accused of being a bigger contributor for not using public transport and driving. We live rural and avoid larger cities, but I still like my freedom and want to get away from people, so being stuck on a bus travelling to larger cities isn't always my idea of relaxation after a working week. We've only been to Spain once this year and will now avoid going until the situation hopefully improves🤞. The bigger problem is how our system works and everything is about growth. Of course all of us (including myself) can do more, but I no longer go to festivals, don't do long haul holidays, eat less meat and try to buy locally + grow our own fruit and veg. I let the garden go wilder in parts which has certainly attracted more bees, birds, butterflies, hedgehogs etc. Is it enough, probably not and we humans still produce too much sh.. Look how many people still travel to Spain right now and despite a drought many will shower twice a day and want a fresh towel every day. Then it's the same with golf courses and people will complain if the course is in a bad condition. Where do you start and where do you stop???

Re: Spains drying up
 

Yes, I edited my post to include that possibility. I am just not familiar enough with the way of life of the super rich, obviously.

Re: Spains drying up
 

Shucks, I wish I could help on that one!!! :)

Re: Spains drying up
 

My claim to green credentials........ I used a push bike at the age of 66 to travel from Spain to England and then back again to Spain!

During COVID there was a time when the flights stopped, and I needed to get back to the UK . The Ferries were not taking foot passengers either, and as we only have my partners car in Spain, that wasn't an option either. Around the village and surrounding area I enjoy using the push bike and so I went on the Britanny Ferries web site, and sure enough, a push bike counted as a vehicle. I had to cycle through the port at Santander along with the cars and trucks, cycle out of Portsmouth Ferry Terminal to the train station, got the train to Bath and from there cycled to the house. As my push bike was now in the UK, I just did the reverse and went back on the bike :) Yes I know real cyclists would have cycled from Portsmouth to Bath, but I didn't want to die that way :)

Re: Spains drying up
 

A gold star for you. A few years ago I came back from Lisbon to Malaga by overnight bus instead of flying. It took 10 hours (then a further hour and a half bus journey to get home) and it was horrendous. I would not do it again, regardless of the carbon footprint. I hadn't gone there for leisure purposes but because my sister had been killed whilst on holiday there and her family had asked for my help, so I wasn't in the best frame of mind to cope with it either.

Re: Spains drying up
 

rbs_gb - there was something a while ago of a group of football fans who had gone to France(?) to see a match, I think the flight back was cancelled maybe, but they found out there were no foot passengers allowed on the ferry as an alternative to get home, so they bought a load of bikes from locals and cycled on.

Re: Spains drying up
 

Fair play! Necessity being the mother of invention for so many things during covid. Amusing thing on the return leg, there were two other cyclists. both in their twenties. One was going to Huelva to see some girl he had met online! The other was going to cycle the Camino. Remember this is coming out of Santander port, and he turned the wrong way outside. I shouted to him, he stopped, and told me he was following the sign for Bilbao...... I have no idea if he made it to Santiago.

Re: Spains drying up
 

I have never heard that foot passengers aren't allowed and have always seen them. On website you can book and the only thing that's mandatory is a seat or cabin or as noted here only pets can come with vehicle.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...088465823e.png

Re: Spains drying up
 

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...df40149797.jpg
Feb 2021 :)
Hi Moses2013. This happened during COVID. They stopped all foot passenger traffic. Ray

Re: Spains drying up
 

Ok Covid of course, but thought Mark604 was talking about recent times. Cycling would have been illegal too I thought?
https://www.connexionfrance.com/arti...rs-this-summer

Re: Spains drying up
 

A bit less than a year ago. Yes, the Daily Star is not the best source but it was the first on the search list. There are others. It was a stag do apparently.
"After being unable to rent a car or grab Eurostar tickets, the group realised their only option was to get a train to Calais and board a ferry to Dover on Saturday (June 4).
But when they called up to ask about the crossing to Dover they were told foot passengers were not allowed - although bikes were."

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/lat...bikes-27187659

Re: Spains drying up
 

Who knows, maybe some were so drunk and loud that staff told them that story thinking they wouldn't manage to get bikes.

Re: Spains drying up
 

Good news though and parts of Catalonia seeing a good bit of rain over the next few hours.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...c4425099f4.png

Re: Spains drying up
 

I believe the problems really stem from the large food companies who are producing food to make money - not to nourish people. Put very simply, everything is driven by this... crop production, animal farming, supermarkets... health issues related to what and how we eat... Do our politicians really want to do anything significant about this? No, they don't.

Re: Spains drying up
 

forecast for valencia region yesterday and this morning but nothing arrived. now 6 months without rain

Re: Spains drying up
 

It sprinkled for 45 minutes in Valencia center last Saturday and yesterday i got news of rain near Gandia

Re: Spains drying up
 

Was checking webcam last night and nice showers in Lloret.
Luckily some more rain likely later this afternoon, unfortunately the usual picture further down.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...708fff89a6.png

Re: Spains drying up
 

There MAY be some respite from the drought in sight later in the year if predictions of an El Niño event this year are correct.

Qué es El Niño, el fenómeno que traería un otoño lluvioso a España y récords de calor (msn.com)

Re: Spains drying up
 

I saw the news today that catalonia is going to pass a law in the next few days prohibiting refilling private pools ?

And a few towns in the cordoba province have been cut off from the mains supply, and they are bringing trucks of water into the towns ? Must be a pain.

Funny how my neibour (in aeg), hoses down the street for 20 metres either side of her front door "to cool the road down".. she does this every night. :thumbdown:

Re: Spains drying up
 

Just seen the news and it looks like they are going to ban the filling of pools as the drought continues. Murica have announced it and Andalucía. Valencia is considering it. Obviously pools already full is no problem but new pools or ones that are going to be worked on will be affected. It looks like it is going to be a very hot dry summer.

Re: Spains drying up
 

I wonder if that "ban" would include exterior municipal pools? They seem to be emptying and preparing to clean n fill ours here near Gandia..
Do not know if it is prematurely early or normal at this time of the year here..

Re: Spains drying up
 

They already banned it, but then they realised there local elections were about to happen so they unbanned it. Later on after the elections they'll ban it again...

Re: Spains drying up
 

Just looked it up and read this article
https://www.euronews.com/2023/05/05/...istant-drought
Shocking: It has not rained in the villages north of the city of Cordoba for months, and that means that the drinking water from the Sierra de Boyera reservoir is almost empty. A local water company now collects water from another lake where dairy farmers have discharged manure for years, making the tap water available dangerous to drink and cook with.
Now local residents have to get their drinking water delivered by truck.

https://www.euronews.com/video/2023/...istant-drought

Re: Spains drying up
 

The government are convening today for an emergency meeting to deal with the drought. Looks like there might be quite severe measures being put forward. Certainly going to be bans on filling pools and watering gardens, car washing etc. Possibly water cuts being implemented etc. They are also going to bring in regulations controlling working conditions for outside workers and even warnings for tourists about using beaches during the hottest part of the day. Good news is there is some rain expected today!!

Re: Spains drying up
 

Quick question, sorry if its a silly one, but... We live in a rural property, get our water from a private well, owned by one of the residents, does the water restrictions affect that also? Thanks

Re: Spains drying up
 

People in Suances are wondering when the showers will stop. These conditions really do show how different Spain can be.
https://www.aemet.es/en/eltiempo/pre...uances-id39085
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...36f88c715b.jpg

Re: Spains drying up
 

Good question. What about people with a legal well using it within their agreed annual limits?

at the end of the day, like Covid regs, the idea no doubt is to get everyone to be sensible. There will be carefully selected ( one hopes) examples made of those that dont.

Re: Spains drying up
 

One of the points being raised is relevant to this. If you follow the Spanish news you will know there is an ideological fight going on between the government and opposition concerning the national park in Andulcia. The right want to be able to use parts of it to provide water for the local agricultural business but the left and the EU are opposed saying it will destroy the natural habitat. There is also the problem with illegal irrigation from the park. This highlights the problem which is that private water sources could come under somekind of state control. It is early days and until the elections in May are over its unlikely any national measures will be implemented but if the pessimistic forecasts are correct it is clear that unless something is done soon spain could lapse into a severe agricultural crash this year leading to further food inflation and all the consequences that follow. Interestingly I saw a photo from the air of the land around alicante and the number of private pools is astonishing- I imagine somekind of regulations will be brought in to deal with such a use of water now that we are nearly living in a desert.

Re: Spains drying up
 

It was a while ago, I did hear that some politicians suggested a sort of Environmental Tax. To restrict the amount of newcomers that want to move to drought ridden areas, Foreigners or Expats should pay higher taxes.
Of course some argue it would be discrimination and wouldn't be approved. Hotels would be another target and the tourist tax is set to increase further, but I'd say in the next 10 years this amount would need to be around €15 per day.

Re: Spains drying up
 

I am up in Galicia at the moment. Plenty of water here!

Spain is at a crossroads in my view. Do something epic or let the desert claim the south.

The opportunity is there to do something epic. Eg A national water grid, massive desalination plants, regularisation of water usage. There is even huge amounts of money available in the form of the 70 billion of EU recovery grants. Sadly the latter will vanish into a few pockets in the form of solar grants ( first beneficiaries will doubtless be the groups behind the vast solar farms springing up everywhere but that is a separate topic)

in my industry, sinking an unregistered borehole and putting in a pump, a few solar panels and buried pipework more or less doubles the yield year on year. A no brainer except the farmers are sucking the aquifers dry. There are twelve within a mile radius of our house alone. All are without permission.

we are heading for a second successive poor olive harvest. Price of oil goes up and the local communities suffer. No money to spend.

I too have been following the Donana and the political debate is the bar topic. I suspect in five years the topic will be the same with everyone still hoping that it will rain next winter.

Re: Spains drying up
 

All good common sense points and I wholeheartedly agree with you, but sadly we have a president who said "I will be most remembered for exhuming the body of Franco". He flies down South in the presidential Falcon Jet and the presidential helicopter is flown down separately to take him from the airport to Doñana. He gets his photo opportunity and then claims green credentials....... Sadly, in an election year, the real money will only be spent on short term campaigns where votes can be won. Remember last years forest fires and how many promises were made about a national fire response unit and increased funding for UME? 12 months on, no news on either happening and the forest fires are already raging.

I love your phrase "opportunity to do something epic" but your pragmatic final sentence says it all...........

Re: Spains drying up
 

It has been dryer than normal here in Galicia too .

https://www.xunta.gal/notas-de-prens...uy-calido-seco
https://www.galiciapress.es/articulo...ealerta-sequia
https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/notici...8515841858.htm
and we have already seen our fair share of fires in the countryside.
https://twitter.com/Incendiosgalic1

Re: Spains drying up
 

So now is the time to purchase property or a home there as the south will be a waste land with salted drinking water - it is not very good....

Wait though, I do not know how the predicated "el nino" weather event will impact Spain this rest of the year & beyond....

Re: Spains drying up
 

Sounds epic, if they manage to do it...

Unprecedented €2.2bn drought response plan approved in Spain

Feijóo proposing a national water authority, isn't that what the Environment ministry is for? (If there were a national water authority already he'd be complaining about the bureaucracy...).

Re: Spains drying up
 

As always, the devil is in the detail. More than half of it is tax breaks to the farmers, so in other words, it´s not investment in infrastructure and does not help the water shortage. As it´s tax breaks, the government won´t have to pay anything out, and the effect will be on the tax income after the elections.We have to expect these kind of announcements in an election year.

In terms of real infrastructure investment, there only items seems to be a new total of 200 million euros in four desalination plants in Almeria, Alicante Malaga and Cataluña, and these will obviously be some time being built. The plan quotes a higher figure than 200 million euros, because in the plan the government is taking over already announced infrastructure projects that were previously budgeted for by the regions. One thing I´ve learnt over the years is in an election year to beware of the headlines, no matter which side of the political divide makes them!

EDIT: Just to give you my sources, which don't come from the press and are based on government web sites If you check out the MITECO plan on the government web site at https://www.miteco.gob.es/es/prensa/.../tcm:30-564745 you will see it includes 250 million for a desalination plant Tordera II in Catalunya. However, if you read it carefully it says "The government will assume responsibiity etc........". The Agencia Catalana de Agua had already announced this project some months back, so all the government has done is re-announce as a national plan what had already been budgeted for as a regional project. Smoke and mirrors politics.