By Sergio Goncalves and Joan FausLISBON/BARCELONA (Reuters) - Portugal's caretaker government has ordered cuts to the amount of water used in farmland irrigation and in urban environments including hotels in the tourism-dependent southern region of Algarve, where a severe drought has nearly emptied reservoirs.
Across the Iberian peninsula, Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia is suffering its worst drought on record and authorities in the greater Barcelona area said on Thursday they would reduce water pressure in some towns' supply systems.
If nothing was done in relation to moderation on the consumption side, we would reach the end of 2024 without water for public supply," he said.
In the southern region of Andalusia, officials on Thursday said there would be water restrictions in big cities such as Seville, Cordoba or Malaga by the summer in the absence of substantial rain before then.
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; additional reporting by Joan Faus in Barcelona and Emma Pinedo in Madrid; editing by Andrei Khalip and Bernadette Baum)
Persons:
Sergio Goncalves, Joan Faus, Duarte Cordeiro, Emma Pinedo, Andrei Khalip, Bernadette Baum
Locations:
Joan Faus LISBON, BARCELONA, Algarve, Catalonia, Barcelona, Portugal, Andalusia, Seville, Cordoba, Malaga, Madrid