August 26, 2024 – 11:04 PM
In Seville, southern Spain, a court ruled that the city could legally separate apartments that were illegally connected to the water network and were mainly rented to tourists, the Daily Mail reported. BBCThis happened in six cases last year, and in three cases the owners complained. The court rejected the appeals on the grounds that they were not living decently in the apartments. The water supply will only be restored when the apartments are functioning as normal apartments again.
According to the city, in addition to the 10,000 licensed apartments, there are 5,000 illegally rented apartments connected to the water network. Seville, with a population of 700,000, receives around 3.5 million visitors a year, most of whom stay in the historic center. It is difficult for the city to reach apartment owners, because in many cases they live abroad, and the rental of apartments and the management of guests are often entrusted to agencies, so the offices will try to hold these agencies responsible from now on.
However, Spain suffers from water shortages, especially during summer droughts. In addition, a tourist consumes twice as much water as a local. Barcelona can meet the water needs of 1.5 million people with seawater, but even that is not enough, and the process is three times more expensive than other methods of producing fresh water.
