This Sunday, the bishop of Solsona, Francesc Conesa, presided over a mass in L'Espunyola, in the Berguedà region, to ask for rain and an end to the drought that many regions of Catalonia are suffering from, which is seriously affecting the whole country. The ceremony took place in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Torrents, a church which is documented as having existed in the 14th century, although the original Romanesque structure was replaced in the 18th century by the current Baroque one. According to the reports, about 300 people took part in the service, and then those who had attended walked in a procession, with the icon of the Lady at its head, around the sanctuary for about twenty minutes, thus repeating an initiative from locals and other public that took place in 2008, when the previous episode of severe drought impacted on Catalonia.
All initiatives are commendable and, consequently, so is the religious ceremony by the residents of L'Espunyola and its surroundings. It is, surely, the only way they have to ask for rain, because the demands put to the government to invest and prepare the country for a situation like this have been of no use. From 2008 until now - we are talking about the last fifteen years - the discourse given has been, above all, that of raising awareness among the population that water is limited. But, as with prayers, raising public awareness is not the solution to the drought.
It is a measure, certainly. A measure, moreover, that is populist. Not because it is not useful, but because it does not force those who govern to do anything. All that boasting that Catalonia has the best budget in its history and it turns out that little or nothing has been done in terms of investments in improvement of water systems. In fact, the Catalan accounts which were passed recently validated an amendment put by the PSC to invest 120 million euros in five years to double the volume of water regenerated outside the Barcelona metropolitan area, and another to promote a new regeneration plant on the river Besòs. The Generalitat of Catalonia has been warned for some time, with no result, that the solution is the reuse of water, promoting regenerated water. But the government seems not to hear.
Now, once again, we're reacting late. Fifteen lost years. For this coming Friday, president Aragonès has called a summit to fight the drought. The initiative makes perfect sense at the moment. Although the obligation of the governor is to foresee the scenarios and thuit would have been very good to call it a year or two ago, a period in which he has been in office. Or his predecessor, or the predecessor of his predecessor. Perhaps, if the issue of water had been treated as a priority and other important but less urgent initiatives for the well-being of citizens had been given up, a significant part of this work would have already been done.
This Sunday, the director of the Catalan Water Agency, Samuel Reyes, predicted that if it doesn't rain heavily, new restrictions will be implemented in August, such as the reduction of around 30 litres per inhabitant per day, from 230 to 200 litres in the Ter-Llobregat system. In other places that already have restrictions, I can't even imagine what the situation will be like after the summer if it doesn't rain. Reyes's warning is all very well, but it is high time that we are told how much will be invested for the reuse of water, and for dependence on rain and prayers to to stop being the solution.