Summer water shortages are becoming almost the norm in Spain. But even in winter, it rains too little to fill the reservoirs. In southern Spain, on the Costa del Sol, the “Coast of the Sun,” many would prefer it were the “Coast of the Rain.”
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00:00 This reservoir used to be full to the brim. Now it's almost empty.
00:05 80% of the trees here don't bear fruit.
00:08 Dried up rivers, nighttime drinking water shutoffs,
00:12 and the all-important tourism, the search for solutions has begun.
00:17 Avocados were behind the Costa del Sol's general prosperity.
00:21 The whole region developed well, too well.
00:24 Farmers covered the place with avocado plants.
00:27 Now they've begun to chop them down.
00:29 There is no longer enough water for everyone, especially not on the hills.
00:34 There's been less and less for a few years now,
00:38 and we don't recover from the summers and winter,
00:40 because winter comes, but it doesn't rain.
00:43 Antonio Gil has had avocado trees since the 1980s.
00:48 His are in the valley, but they don't get enough water.
00:51 And these? Because we have too little harvest, we take them, too.
00:55 In normal times, they'd be left hanging.
00:58 For Antonio Gil and many other farmers, it could be much worse.
01:04 Fortunately, we have treated water, but it's not enough to meet the demand.
01:09 Treated water? Around Vélez, Málaga, in the Ajarquía area,
01:16 people have known for years that the water was running out.
01:19 Millions of euros have been invested in new reservoirs and pipes,
01:23 so that the water from sewage treatment plants does not flow into the sea,
01:28 but onto fields.
01:29 Now they are tapping into more treatment plants.
01:32 Every drop counts.
01:34 But treated water is not as clean as water from reservoirs or wells,
01:38 so scientists are looking at the best way to use treated water.
01:43 Recycled water has many advantages, as it has a high nutrient content,
01:51 it has nitrates, potassium, phosphates,
01:55 and in the form that the plants directly absorb,
01:58 there is no need for any treatment, apart from removing the pollutants.
02:03 Experts are now also looking at how other plants cope with treated water,
02:08 such as papaya, as avocados here have a problem with it.
02:13 We find that avocados in particular are especially sensitive to salinity,
02:18 that some avocados have dry leaves as a result,
02:21 that they suffer from negative side effects because the treated water we work with is salty.
02:27 Treated water does not necessarily have to have these high levels,
02:30 but in the case of the Arraquilla and the municipality of the Algarrobo, it does.
02:36 7.30 am, the water supplier's team in Belesmalaga receives its tasks for the day.
02:43 There is plenty to do, and a few pipes have burst again.
02:47 But first, Tomas Rodriguez makes the lives of many residents easier again.
02:54 If we notice that we are using more than we are allocated by the regional supplier,
02:59 we have to shut off the water in some areas.
03:03 We prefer to do this at night, as it has less of an effect on the population,
03:08 but also because we can stop water from disappearing through leaks.
03:13 Leaks account for 20% of water consumption,
03:17 one reason why the pipes are put under more strain when the water is shut off.
03:24 We have three or four burst water pipes each day.
03:28 It happens regularly.
03:30 The pipes are made of polyethylene and are already several years old,
03:34 which makes them more vulnerable over time.
03:37 The municipality has its own wells for the drinking water supply.
03:41 Tomas Rodriguez shows us one, but the pumps have been at a standstill here for more than a year.
03:50 The groundwater level kept falling.
03:54 We could only pump less and less water.
03:58 At some point it was so little that we couldn't do anything with the big pumps.
04:02 There was still some water, but the pumps here would quickly break down
04:07 because they kept switching on and off.
04:09 That's why the 85,000 residents now rely on water from neighboring areas.
04:14 In the Beles Malaga town hall, the deputy in charge is trying his best
04:19 to conserve what water exists and get new water.
04:26 We have to desalinate the water, which we have plenty of here,
04:30 even if it's a bit more expensive.
04:32 But it would be a shame to lose our economy, the existing structure,
04:36 the number of businesses, and above all, what has made our Ajacaia region famous.
04:42 The model, the arid region around Almeria.
04:46 Desalination enables farming there.
04:49 And on the Costa del Sol, there is just one desalination plant.
04:54 More are planned, but that does not solve short-term problems.
04:58 Last year, enough water was needed for 14 million tourists here.
05:02 The hotel association refuses to give interviews on this issue
05:06 for fear of spoiling the atmosphere.
05:09 In Estepona, hotel manager Rüdiger Hollweg still seems pretty relaxed about his new hotel.
05:16 Yes, I mean, this is a new hotel, and of course we planned ahead.
05:21 We have water cisterns on the building where the rainwater is collected,
05:25 and we have three water wells.
05:28 And we have toilet facilities, for example, where we can feed the used treated water back into the system.
05:37 But he also strongly feels that desalination plants must be built quickly.
05:43 The Mediterranean is big enough that we can take water from it
05:47 and it would just need to be desalinated in return to our water supply.
05:51 What if water simply flowed at the touch of a button?
05:54 Since it hardly ever rains, the focus is now shifting to a machine that's being built in Andalusia,
06:01 but is actually only used far away.
06:04 Based on the principle of an air conditioner, it draws water from the air.
06:08 Technology like this uses a lot of electricity.
06:12 We have cut consumption by a quarter.
06:15 This now lets us produce a liter of drinking water for 3 to 5 cents.
06:24 Soon there will be a plant for domestic use.
06:28 More interesting still is a project that will be even bigger than this shipping container.
06:35 What's new for us now is meeting the needs of agriculture.
06:40 Good enough efficiency and compatibility with renewable energies, especially photovoltaics,
06:46 create needs and opportunities in the agricultural sector,
06:50 such as in autonomous hydroponic greenhouses.
06:55 Irrigation with water from the surrounding air.
06:58 This won't be a solution for the avocados in Belesmalaga.
07:02 Antonio Gil and many others are now trying mangoes,
07:05 as they need less water and are more resilient.
07:08 But avocados still dominate in the Arrharquilla.
07:11 For now, it just needs to rain, and Antonio Gil is waiting.