Lorraine Williamson
How far can Spain’s water systems stretch before the country crosses a point of no return? That question is becoming urgent as new national research lays bare how quickly the land is losing its ability to sustain people, farming, and ecosystems.
The newly published Atlas de la Desertificación de España delivers the clearest warning yet. More than 40% of Spain already sits in a zone officially classed as at risk of desertification, revealing a slow-burning crisis decades in the making but accelerating sharply in recent years.
This is not a vision of Spain turning into a Saharan landscape. Researchers stress that desertification has nothing to do with dunes and camels. Instead, it refers to the human-driven depletion of soil and water—a process that quietly hollows out landscapes long before they resemble a desert.
A crisis rooted in soil loss and falling water reserves
For the first time, Spain has a national map showing exactly where the land is deteriorating. It paints a stark picture: more than 206,000 square kilometres—an area larger than Greece—are now losing soil fertility, shrinking groundwater reserves and seeing ecosystems struggle to recover.
Some regions stand out for the sheer speed of decline. In Murcia, Almería and Albacete, an astonishing 84% to 91% of land lies in the danger zone. These areas were already dry, but decades of intensive agriculture and fast-growing populations have pushed them into critical territory.
The atlas confirms what farmers and ecologists in the southeast have been warning. Spain is drying out faster than nature can replenish itself.
Desertification and water shortage in Spain
Water pressure is rewriting Spain’s geography
One of the atlas’s most revealing insights is the precision with which it tracks water use. Even in wet years, Spain has always depended on careful water management. But the past few decades have introduced pressures the natural system cannot match.
Irrigated agriculture has grown at remarkable speed, especially along the Mediterranean coast. The demand for water now outpaces the natural recharge of aquifers. In some basins, extraction has been so intense that underground reserves have collapsed, leaving water that is either brackish or so polluted that recovery could take many years.
Climate patterns have also shifted. Droughts now last longer, and when rain finally arrives, it tends to fall in short, violent bursts that sweep across hardened soil instead of sinking in. The result is a country receiving roughly the same annual rainfall as decades ago, yet retaining far less of it.
Decades of overuse have left their mark
The data shows a kind of environmental exhaustion. In parts of southeastern Spain, the signs are now visible to the naked eye: thinning vegetation, dried-up springs and soils so spent they can no longer retain moisture.
Researchers link this not to natural desert formation but to long-term overextraction, expansion of urban areas into fragile zones, and agricultural practices that ignore ecological limits. The cumulative impact has pushed landscapes into a downward spiral.
The consequences reach into daily life
This is no niche environmental concern. Desertification affects:
Farmers, who face falling yields and soils that no longer behave as they once did.
Households, as drinking water becomes harder and costlier to secure.
Infrastructure, with degraded land increasing flood risks during storms.
Rural communities, some of which may become unsustainable if trends continue.
The atlas warns that without decisive action, parts of Spain could move from “difficult to farm” to “difficult to inhabit”—a shift with enormous economic and social consequences.
What researchers say Spain must do now
The atlas stops short of issuing policy demands, but experts highlight clear areas for intervention—each closely tied to water, land and human activity.
Integrate water, soil and forest policy
Experts argue that managing these systems separately no longer makes sense. Desertification is a combined outcome, and solutions must be coordinated.
Dramatically increase water reuse and desalination
Cities and farms must recycle far more treated wastewater. Desalination, while energy-intensive, offers a way to relieve pressure on aquifers.
Halt new irrigation in vulnerable areas
Regions already facing groundwater collapse cannot sustain further agricultural expansion, even if crops are lucrative.
Limit construction in stressed landscapes
New housing estates and agrarian projects intensify water demand and can tip ecosystems beyond recovery.
These measures are not new, but the atlas gives them renewed urgency by showing where and how fast the land is deteriorating.
Spain confronts a future shaped by water
Spain has been debating desertification since the 1990s, but this latest assessment cuts through any lingering uncertainty. The crisis is no longer theoretical. It is already reshaping daily life in the southeast, placing pressure on farmers across the country and pushing water authorities to rethink long-established systems.
Unless water use changes and soils are restored, large parts of Spain face a future defined by scarcity—one in which traditional agriculture shrinks, rural populations decline and landscapes lose the resilience that has supported them for centuries.
The atlas leaves Spain with a stark choice: adapt rapidly or endure a slow transformation into a country where much of the land can no longer sustain the people who depend on it.
Source: El País