Vélez-Málaga and several other towns and villages in the Axarquía cut off the water at night to guarantee the supply

The persistent drought is worsening in the Axarquía. As a result the first restrictions on the use of water by the public in the eastern part of Malaga province have come into effect.

With immediate effect Aqualia, the water company responsible for the supply in Vélez-Málaga, has issued a notice of "temporary suspension" of the supply between 11.30pm to 6.30am for the population centres of Vélez-Málaga and Torre del Mar. The move, which came into effect during the early hours of this morning (Friday, 30 June) will be in place “until further notice” to guarantee the service throughout the day". El Borge, Iznate and Almáchar are the first three municipalities to apply the nightly cuts to try and guarantee the supply. Other large municipalities on the eastern coast, such as Rincón de la Victoria, have announced that "next week" a decree will be approved with more restrictive measures on the use of drinking water to deal with the drought, in line with what others such as Vélez-Málaga have already done. However, sources have told SUR that "at the moment it is not contemplated to make cuts at night, but it has not ruled out doing so later."

For their part, for now, the other two large municipalities on the eastern coast of the Costa del Sol, Torrox and Algarrobo, have ruled out these nightly cuts. The mayor of Algarrobo, Natacha Rivas (PP), told SUR that "in principle, we do not need them if the level of consumption we have continues." "In general, awareness has being raised and consumption is falling in big numbers within the municipality," she added. Her counterpart in Torrox, Óscar Medina (PP), has also ruled out, for now, taking drastic measures. It should be remembered that in both cases the towns are still receiving water resources from the transfer of the Chíllar de Nerja river, which last April was reduced by 50% when detecting "signs of depletion in the aquifer".

The measure, which affects the two main population centres of the municipality, coincides with the Vélez-Málaga Town Hall's ban on the filling of private swimming pools, the watering of parks and gardens and the washing down of streets with drinking water due to the drought. La Viñuela reservoir, the main source of water for the eastern region, is at a historic low in its 34-year history at just 9.1% of its capacity (15 cubic hectometers).

Aqualia sources told SUR that the company has been forced to take this measure due to a 20% reduction in the water supply. Sources have warned that the measure could be extended to more towns in Vélez-Málaga in the coming weeks as the population increases due to the high summer season.