Catalonia is preparing to declare a drought emergency, and as part of this, it's imposing sanctions against non-essential water usage.
The first to be targeted are residents of the Barcelona metropolitan area.
According to Independant, Water reserves on the other side of the Pyrenees are depleting, having reached only 16% capacity, which is precisely the threshold below which the region enters a drought emergency. This situation has prompted a strong reaction from the authorities, who are ready to issue fines.
The fines set by the officials of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB) for abusing water resources appear to be deterrent.
They are fixed at 30 euros for washing a car, 50 euros for watering a garden, and even 200 euros for filling a pool up to 72m3.
Currently, the sanctions apply to the communities of the Barcelona metropolitan area that exceed the threshold set by the Generalitat for all usages, which is 200 liters of water per day per inhabitant.
Barcelona itself is not yet affected, as the Catalan capital still has "a few months of leeway, even without rain," according to a water official at AMB speaking to La Vanguardia.
