Yahoo News Spain beaches bring in new 'shower' rules due to drought as tourists prepare for summer holidays
Tourists are being warned of new beach shower rules announced in some parts of Spain due to drought.
Almost all towns in the coastal municipalities of Cádiz have decided to remove the showers, with a few exceptions, such as Chiclana, it has been reported. As of the week of June 17, the province's water capacity is at 29.21 per cent (532 cubic hectometers), which is over four points higher than last year (463 cubic hectometers). But it is nearly 27 points lower than ten years ago, when it was at 56.13 per cent.
The Junta de Andalucía has set a limit of 225 litres of water per inhabitant in each municipality. Most beaches in Cádiz will not have showers, with some exceptions like San Fernando, where module 5 on Camposoto beach will have showers for people with reduced mobility.
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In Chiclana, showers will soon be available, including on the new canine beach. It comes weeks after it emerged a number of popular Spanish beaches have been given a black flag by the Spanish environmental NGO Ecologists in Action, who issue these to warn of pollution and sewage discharge at these locations, reports BirminghamLive.
Their report also warns of plastic waste and environmental damage on the coastline, arguing that urbanisation and mass tourism are to blame for these problems. A total of 48 beaches have been given blag flags in this year's annual report, including those in popular destinations such as Malaga and Costa del Sol and some on the Spanish islands of Ibiza, Tenerife, and Lanzarote.
Discussing the report, spokeswoman for Ecologists in Action, Ana Aldarias, told the i : "Obviously, Spain owes a lot to tourism. But it generates a great deal of material which causes contamination which it cannot assimilate. The ecological footprint of the Canary Islands corresponds to a region 27 times bigger."
