The municipal council approves an initiative of the commons negotiated with the PSC to help families and control excessive consumption in the tourism sector
Barcelona’s council has given the green light this Friday to a proposal that aims to promote water saving in the city, especially in tourist establishments that consume a lot of water, and to facilitate aid for vulnerable households and those who want install tanks to collect rainwater on roofs. The proposal, presented by the commons and agreed with the PSC, has had the favorable vote of ERC and the rejection of PP and Vox, who have defended the need to transfer water from the Ebro to the Catalan capital. TriasxBCN planned to vote in favor, but the words of Janet Sanz, of the commons, attacking the water consumption of tourism, have made them change their vote to abstention.
Subsidies to reduce domestic consumption and social water tariff
The approved text states that it is necessary to support households in the saving and cost of water, as well as to reuse and regenerate water whenever possible and to sanction unproductive uses of water in the tourism sector. For this reason, it is proposed to help all homes in Barcelona with a public call for subsidies in order to reduce domestic consumption by 30% through the renewal of water appliances at home, installation of rainwater tanks on roofs, and other measures . In addition, the Energy Advice Points will be strengthened so that vulnerable families can apply for the social water tariff.
A new heading for tourist establishments and more inspections
The proposal also asks the AMB to study the possibility of creating a new heading in the drinking water tariff that differentiates tourist establishments from the current headings for commercial consumption and to punish, within the framework of its surveillance functions as to the service provider entity, large water consumptions that are out of the ordinary and to increase its inspection capacity in coordination with BCASA.
Gray water reuse systems and groundwater infrastructures
It has also been agreed to include, in the future ordinance for the reuse and saving of water, the obligation to install gray water reuse systems within 5 years for those tourist establishments with large water consumption, put into operation the phreatic water infrastructures planned or started in the previous term and analyze the impact of water saving measures in children’s summer camps, municipally owned sports facilities and associated activities in order to envisage alternative measures that minimize their effects and define an investment plan to modernize water management.
Criticism of the commons in the tourism sector and the Catalan governments
The spokeswoman for the communes, Janet Sanz, has been very critical of the tourism sector and the alleged lack of investment by the last Catalan governments in water management. In this sense, he has once again censured the Hard Rock, the Winter Olympics or the expansion of El Prat airport, because they would involve a high consumption of natural resources. Thus, he believes that the residents of the city cannot be treated in the same way as the tourist establishments. “Citizens have long since done their homework, but hotels and apartments are subsidized to deal with the drought,” he said. For this reason, he believes that it is necessary to subsidize families and at the same time set an example in transparency to know who consumes more.
TriasxBCN, ERC, PP and Vox reaction
Francina Vila, from TriasxBCN, was upset by Sanz’s intervention, and said that certain economic activities cannot be stigmatized. In addition, he has criticized that the previous and current municipal government have not led certain projects and have not demanded more investments from other administrations. For this reason, despite being in favor of the text agreed by the commons and the PSC, after listening to Sanz’s intervention, they have decided to abstain. Eva Baró, from ERC, said that some initiatives should have been taken years ago and regretted the council’s delay. The PP and Vox have voted against the proposal and have defended the transfer of the Ebro as a solution to Barcelona’s water problems.
