Spain stops fresh water supplies for cruise ships - drought emergency is to blame

At the beginning of February 2024, Barcelona and 200 other cities in Catalonia declared a state of drought emergency.

The President of the Catalan government, Pere Aragonès, declared: "Catalonia is facing the worst drought of the last century. In fact, we have never experienced such a long drought since rainfall records began."

As there has been insufficient rainfall for the last three years, residents and businesses have drastically reduced their water consumption. Cruise ships docking at the country's largest cruise port have also felt the effects of the drought.

Worst drought in decades

There is already an agreement that Barcelona will only supply cruise ships belonging to the International Cruise Lines Association (CLIA) with water in emergencies. The city will only start supplying water once the situation has returned to normal.

90% of the ships that call at the port of Barcelona are cruise ships that are members of the CLIA. They are responsible for 0.09% of Barcelona's water consumption.

As the drought is so widespread, public pressure has increased to such an extent that the same agreement had to be reached with cruise ships docking in Mallorca.
CLIA and the Port of Barcelona have recognized the urgent need to conserve water and support these changes, noting that they have introduced significant innovations in recent years.

Technologies such as reverse osmosis plants and evaporators have enabled them to reuse water and reduce their dependence on the local freshwater supply.

These innovations are so advanced that many cruise ships can now produce more than 90% of their own fresh water, which makes Spain's decision to temporarily stop supplying water to cruise ships more understandable. In 2022, less than 30% of port stops will supply water to cruise ships, a significant decrease from 50% in 2017.