Spain: XR activists plug holes on golf courses as drought continues

In an effort to highlight the substantial amounts of water the “elitist leisure pursuit” uses as a major drought in Spain continues to make lives difficult, climate activists recently filled in holes on ten golf courses with soil and planted seedlings.

Members of Extinction Rebellion (XR) revealed their campaign in a video released on Sunday, saying golf courses in multiple locations – including Valencia, Ibiza, Barcelona, Navarra, Madrid and the Basque country – had been targeted.

All Trouble Just For An Entertainment Enjoyed By The Elite 0.6%

In a statement, the group said its latest campaign aimed to denounce the wasting of water by golf amid “one of the worst droughts in history”. It highlighted how courses across Spain consumed more water than Barcelona and Madrid combined.

Each hole required over 100,000 litres of water per day to maintain the greens, the statement added. The country is drying up and the rural world is incurring major losses as crops hardly receive irrigation – all because of a sport enjoyed by scarcely 0.6% of the population, it read.

Planning, Structural Measures, Short-Term Help Plans

Drought isn’t new for Spaniards. But the raging climate emergency has caused it to become more frequent and intense. All of the country has been in drought since January last year, but people in some regions are more gravely affected than others.

Catalonia has been in drought for over three years. Authorities there have introduced several laws, such as a 15% reduction in water for industrial uses, a 40% reduction for agricultural purposes, and a 20-litre cut in the average daily supply per inhabitant.

The Spanish government approved a $2.4 billion plan in May to ease the struggle of consumers and farmers amid the drought, which has been worsened by the hottest and driest April on record. The country requires planning, structural measures as well as short-term help plans.