Despite the rain in recent days, measures to combat drought remain active and one of the fears, especially in the tourism sector, was that restrictions would be applied to water consumption in hotels. However, as RAC1 can reveal, neither Barcelona nor Girona nor any of the 10 most populated cities in a drought emergency situation will limit water consumption in these establishments, at least for now.
The latest measures approved by the Government allow municipalities to apply limits on tourist establishments, but only those that use more water than allowed are required to do so. Thus, the measure announced 15 days ago will have a very limited effect — at least this summer. None of the 10 cities with the most inhabitants in emergency due to drought will be obliged to apply it, nor do they plan to do so voluntarily.
The majority of cities consulted by RAC1 justify this by the little tourism they receive, such as Terrassa, Mataró, Badalona and Sabadell. Nor will three of the cities with the most hotel beds in the country: Barcelona, l'Hospitalet de Llobregat and Girona.
This is although the CUP, which leads the government of the city of Girona, is one of the parties that has most demanded the creation of these limits. Sources from the Girona city council explain that they will monitor the hotels' spending, but that at present they will not limit their consumption. They remember that their water consumption is below what is allowed. However, after the publication of this information, they have clarified that they do not rule out ending up applying it depending on the evolution of the drought.
With respect to Barcelona, Jaume Collboni's Government also closes the door. They emphasize that all sectors are making a great effort to reduce water consumption and that the city is well below the consumption limits.
