Drought forces Barcelona to ship in water
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Spain's worst drought in decades forced the city of Barcelona to begin shipping in drinking water Tuesday in an unprecedented effort to avoid water restrictions before the start of vacation season.
A ship carrying 19,000 cubic meters (5 million gallons) of water from nearby Tarragona docked in Barcelona's port Tuesday morning.

A second vessel from Marseille, France, is scheduled to arrive in the coming days.

The bustling port city on Spain's Mediterranean coast is among the areas hardest hit by the worst springtime drought in the country since records began 60 years ago. With reservoirs at dramatically low levels and no substantial rainfall in sight, regional authorities are hoping to hang on until a desalination plant is completed in May next year.

The regional government of Catalonia, of which Barcelona is the capital, said six ships a month will bring in a total of 1.66 million cubic meters (438 million gallons) of water. That is roughly enough to satisfy 6 percent of the monthly needs of the region's 5.5 million inhabitants. The shipments are scheduled to last at least three months.

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