The drought situation in Catalonia
The drought that has been affecting Catalonia for months has led the Government to declare a state of emergency in the Ter-Llobregat system, on which 202 municipalities and nearly 6 million people depend. Due to this situation, they have implemented several measures to reduce water consumption and deal with water shortages
The restrictions in force
With the entry into the new emergency phase, several restrictions on the use of water have been established. Some of the measures include the reduction of the water supply per inhabitant per day to 200 liters, the restriction of ‘80% of water in agricultural uses, 50% in livestock and 25% in industry and recreational uses [[1]](https://www.ara.cat /lengua/5-arguments-5-tricks-don’t-change-language-don’t-incomodi_1_4544047.html). These restrictions will come into force this Friday, when they are published in the Official Journal of the Generalitat of Catalonia (DOGC)
Impact on gyms and sports facilities
The drought situation has particularly affected gyms and sports facilities, which have been forced to take measures to reduce water consumption More than 40 sports centers in Barcelona have offered their users to shower in three minutes to reduce water consumption In addition, push buttons that last 15 seconds have been installed to encourage rapid
Measures taken by sports centers
Barcelona’s municipal sports centers have had to close 25% of their showers as a measure to force water conservation This measure has been criticized by some, who consider that there are other more efficient measures [[1]] (https://www.ara.cat/llengua/5-arguments-5-trucs-no-canviar-lengua-no-incomodi_1_4544047.html). At the same time, a communication campaign has been launched with the slogan ‘1 shower – 3 minutes’ to encourage the responsible use of water
Awareness campaigns
Various entities and associations have promoted campaigns to promote water saving and the responsible use of showers. For example, the Catalan Association of Public Sports Facilities Management Entities has promoted the campaign ‘Every drop of ‘water left!’ in 44 sports centers in Barcelona This campaign seeks to limit the use of showers to 3 minutes per user and encourage a more efficient use of water Dispensers have also been distributed to users to save up to 9 liters of water per minute
Measures in other localities
Other towns such as Sant Cugat del Vallès and Salt have also taken measures to reduce water consumption in their sports facilities. In Sant Cugat del Vallès, the showers at the municipal sports facilities have been closed, except for those that host federated competitions A Salt, half of the showers in the municipal sports facilities have been closed and flanges have been installed to reduce the time of water consumption
