In Spain, dozens of villages struggle for drinking water
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30/07/2021 - 09:07 Every Monday, the villagers walk to the main square in Lastras to buy multipacks of mineral water in 1.5 litre bottles PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU AFP 4 min
Lastras de Cuéllar (Spain) (AFP)
Less than two hours from Madrid, 76-year-old Francisca Benitez has to brush her teeth every night with bottled water because her village has no supply of drinking water.
In Lastras de Cuellar in the central Castilla y Leon region, nitrates and arsenic have made the water undrinkable for the village s residents, who number 350 in winter and nearly 1,000 in summer.
July 30, 2021 by archyde
In Lastras de Cuéllar in the central Castilla y León region, nitrates and arsenic have made the water undrinkable for the village’s residents, who number 350 in winter and nearly 1,000 in summer.
And across the country, dozens of villages are suffering the same fate because groundwater resources are at risk from agricultural pollution, a lack of water quality controls and drought.
Every Monday, the villagers walk to the main square in Lastras to buy multipacks of mineral water in 1.5 litre bottles, sold at a discounted price, which some take away in wheelbarrows.
Alejandro Martín, 17, is there to help his 95-year-old grandfather bring home the precious resource which is then poured into a pan so they can prepare coffee.