How Spain’s tourism industry is dealing with drought

From drought alerts at the airport to innovative water-saving technologies in hotels, Barcelona’s tourism industry is being reshaped in the midst of its worst drought in centuries.

The beach, the sun and even the festive street atmosphere are likely among the first things travellers want to see when they visit Barcelona. However, their reception has been a bit different for the past few weeks. As tourists land in the city, a different kind of message greets them at the airport:

“Drought alert. Save water during your stay.”

Catalonia has been in a critical situation for three years and has seen its worst drought in 200 years. Although the rains of the last few weeks have helped ease the situation, the region remains alert to what the future may bring.

In the context of climate change, where rain will become less frequent in the Mediterranean basin, many hotels have already started to think of ways to cope with the situation.

One towel at a time, please

In this respect, the outlook is more positive for those who have already done their homework.

One such place is St Christopher’s Inn, a hostel just a few meters from Plaza Catalunya. Since its construction, this site, which welcomes thousands of travellers from around the world each year, has had a recycling system that reuses water from showers and sinks for cleaning and toilet flushing.

Additionally, to reduce water consumption by guests, they charge €1 ($1.07) for each towel change and have replaced traditional shower heads with timed push buttons. These are effective solutions, although not easy to implement.

“The biggest challenge is the cost. We are a building with 450 beds and 35 showers. Initially, it was a bit complicated to justify the investment and we had to convince the company to approve our budgets,” explains Alex de Luca, marketing manager at St. Christopher’s Inn.

Beyond this place, other establishments in Barcelona are also taking measures to confront the drought and be more sustainable.

The Hilton Diagonal Mar has opted to use seawater in its pool, which prolongs the water’s useful life. Meanwhile, the Majestic Hotel & Spa Barcelona has revamped its shower systems to reduce water consumption from 40 liters (10.5 gallons) per minute to just nine litres, by mixing more air with the water.

Taking on hotel showers

Sometimes the efforts of these businesses need to be accompanied by a change in attitude among visitors. Many are unaware of what is happening until they encounter the signs and see the various measures.

“We are gradually reeducating them. Although the response has been more positive than we expected, occasionally some customers complain that the shower water doesn’t last long,” de Luca says. Although these measures are proving effective in saving water, the truth is that it is not known with certainty how much visitors use.

According to a study published in May 2023 by the Barcelona Hotel Guild, hotel customers in Barcelona have reduced their daily water consumption by 40 per cent in the last seven years. The study also reveals that hotels now account for 9 per cent of the total water consumed in the city.

Furthermore, the average water consumption per tourist stands at 163.5 litres per day, only slightly higher than that of a Barcelona resident when considering the water consumed outside the home.

Changing mindsets in Catalonia

The Water Research Institute of the University of Barcelona has no data on this, but they estimate that tourists use around twice as much water per day compared to the rest of society. It is a significant number, but one that does not seem likely to have any repercussions.

Jose F Garcia, director of the university’s Chemical Institute, does not believe that the model will change in the short term. “In Barcelona, the economy has a very important tourist component that also affects the locals,” he explains.

Indeed more than 85 million visitors came to Spain in 2023 and contributed 12 per cent of the country’s GDP.

Read more: What is WikiLeaks and why did it get Julian Assange in so much trouble?

Nevertheless, Garcia believes that in the medium term, there could be a change, as the need to do so becomes bigger and bigger. However, this will not happen until the local mindset changes, too.

“The moment we all realize that water is a limited resource and that we can’t use as much as we want, we will all use less. This will also lead to a change in the economic model,” he said.

In some places like St. Christopher’s Inn, this seems to be starting to happen already.

As Alex de Luca puts it: “Every action counts when it comes to water conservation. From the management decisions we make to the behaviours we encourage in our guests, we all have a role to play.”