Maite Ursua, 68, can hardly use the toilet at home at night.
"The cistern takes half an hour to fill," he says while having breakfast with his daughter and a family friend in a bar in the port of the Biscayan town of Bermeo, the most populous of the 16 municipalities affected by the drought in the Busturialdea region. , which brings together 44,560 neighbors in total.
The Bilbao Bizkaia Water Consortium (CABB), responsible for the water supply in the area, has reduced the power of the flow during the early morning —from twelve to six— due to the scarcity of water in the system.
The restrictions have left several areas without enough power to shower or wash hands.
As an exceptional measure, the Water Consortium has decided to use a tanker to transport the water to Bermeo and, from there, introduce it into the system.
The ship, with a maximum capacity of four million litres, will transport a daily average of around two million litres.
The supply is expected to begin in the next few days, although sources from the Water Consortium have assured that the ship is not ready and is still undergoing tests: "Water has never been transported like this before, we have had to build pipes to be able to supply the water to the system".
These sources explain that there is no exact date for the start of the supply and that this will also depend on how much water the rainfall leaves this week.
More information
Spain goes into drought
A few kilometers south of Bermeo, in Pedernales, the City Council has cut off irrigation for the entire municipality.
The green areas that served as rest in the summer season now look dry and yellowish.
Fidel García is 55 years old and has been living in the town for 12 years.
“This had always been greener than crocodiles.
It's sad to see it like this, ”he says sadly.
The water from the showers on the beaches has also been cut off.
But the measure is not an exception to Pedernales.
Most of the municipalities affected by the drought in Busturialdea have adopted the same decision.
The sources have suffered the same fate.
In the small town, only one of the pipes remains in operation, in the center of the square.
The 16 municipalities affected by the restrictions are, in addition to Bermeo, Ajangiz, Arratzu, Busturia, Ea, Elantxobe, Gernika-Lumo, Forua,
A woman washes a tomato in Gernika, during the festival of San Roque.Javier Hernández
Nadia Morlesin, 22, works at the Pedernales beach bar, but does not live in the town, but lives just 10 kilometers away, in Gernika.
There she claims to have also noticed the reduction in the power of the water: "This is noticed by those of us who live at night or return late from work."
A few days ago, her roommate could not take a shower when she returned home after finishing her workday.
Ursua's daughter also works late and agrees with Morlesin that the restrictions mainly affect night businesses and those who work late or very early.
"My partner gets up at five and at that time the power is totally insufficient to shower."
These restrictions also affect the use of appliances that use large amounts of water such as washing machines or dishwashers.
However, in the case of Bermeo, the steep slope of the town means that the pressure is much lower in households located in the upper part of the municipality.
“Very little [water] reaches us.
I don't want to imagine the elevated areas”, says Ursua.
But there are also citizens who have hardly noticed a change compared to before the restrictions during the early hours.
“We know that some sources have been cut off and they have asked us to try to limit the use of water, but I have no problem at all,” says Izaro González de Audikana, 38, who runs a small flower shop next to the town market.
In addition to the absence of rain, the summer heat is suffocating for the usual residents of the region.
“I had never seen these temperatures in my life”, complains Ursua, who claims to be a “generation Bermeian”, and affirms, before this category, that it is the most serious drought that Bermeo has experienced for 40 years.
"It always rains here and this year nothing has fallen."
"This looks like Benidorm," adds her daughter.
From Pedernales, García, wearing a hat to protect himself from the sun that has been shining for weeks, agrees: "It doesn't rain here anymore."
The totally dry garden of a Pedernales park.
Javier Hernandez
50% off
Subscribe to continue reading
read without limits
Keep reading
I'm already a subscriber
