British expats have been left without water after a suspected drought in one of the most popular Spanish locations. Families in the village of Valle Romano, Estepona, in the Costa del Sol have been left without water for five days, with residents complaining they are unable to flush the toilet as a result.
The water supply issue is reported to have started at the beginning of this week. Local resident Alba Woodard, 34, told The Olive Press: “At first, Hidralia [the water company] said the problems were because of burst pipes or pump.
“They said they didn’t know when it would be fixed – it could be weeks.”
However, Hidralia later said the water cut off was due to a “lack of water” in the storage tanks.
Woodard, a property manager born in Bristol but raised in Estepona, complained it was “unfair to just cut off water to all these houses”.
The area is popular amongst British expats, with around 92,180 UK nationals living in the Costa del Sol as of 2022.
Woodard added: “Down in Estepona, in the town, the water is flowing freely and they’re having a jolly. While up here, it’s awful. I have a three-year-old girl.
“Kids are messy, they spill fruit juice on the floor, they get sticky. I can’t even wash her hair. Is this the beginning of what’s to come?” Residents have also complained of being unable to shower or turn on their taps as water supply runs low.
Spain, along with the UK, saw record breaking temperatures in January with the weather being strangely mild for this time of year.
January 25 saw an historic high of 29.6C in Valencia, while Albacete, Cadiz, Cordoba, Jaen, Granada, Huelva, Logroño, Malaga, Cadiz and Teruel also broke their records.
Andalusia’s reservoir levels are said to be critically low at the moment, despite recent rainfall.
Meanwhile, a provisional new UK maximum temperature record for January of 19.9C has been set in northwest Scotland.