Tourists face Jacuzzi and swimming pools closures in Barcelona in the coming weeks as Catalonia faces its “worst drought ever”.
The region’s government has imposed emergency measures over the crisis, caused by a lack of rainfall, which outlaw the refilling of pools or topping them up unless recycled water is used.
“It’s the worst drought ever recorded,” Pere Aragonès, Catalonia’s president, said on Thursday.
The emergency measures, set to take effect from Friday, will impact some six million people in Barcelona and hundreds of other coastal communities in Catalonia.
A first phase of restrictions includes a ban on washing cars and watering public gardens unless recycled water is used.
Private pools, including those in hotels, cannot be emptied and refilled, and are only permitted to be topped up if facilities have approved water regeneration systems.