THOUSANDS of Brit tourists have been left without drinking water as Gibraltar faces severe water shortages – prompting desperate families to rush to the Spanish border.
Taps are going dry amid a 35C heatwave after a fire damaged a pipe essential to pumping fresh water to Gibraltar homes, utility companies AquaGib and GibElec said.
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Panic-buying has stripped supermarket shelves of bottled water, leaving Brits and locals with no choice but to travel across the border to Spain to purchase water.
Victoria Taylor, 28, who is in Gibraltar visiting her in-laws, told The Sun: “I arrived last night and there were already rumours in Gatwick before we boarded that Gibraltar had run out of water.”
The mum, who is staying in the family residence for the summer with her husband and her three sons 11, seven and five, claims desperate locals were being stopped from entering Spain.
She said: “I was at the airport, which is just beside the border queue.
“There were lots of beeping and it was pandemonium.
“Gibraltarians were being turned back at the border as they were going to Spain to buy bottled water.
“They are used to hostilities at the border, especially after Brexit, but the Spanish are not being humanitarian – they are not allowing fresh produce to come to Gibraltar, let alone water.”
Her claims come after reports that Spain’s border guards have been tightening their controls on people leaving the British Overseas Territory.
Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said he was aware of such measures were being applied at the border.
While Victoria’s in-laws “had the oversight” to buy large three bottled water barrels, Victoria said no water was available when she went to buy some on Friday morning.
“It was a sombre mood at the Morrisons – we know people went into panic mode yesterday and bought whole trolleys worth of bottled water,” Victoria, of Great Dunmow, Essex, told The Sun.
Supermarkets Morrisons, Coviran and Eroski said they had made arrangements for further stocks to be delivered, and said they would be receiving more stock today, GBC News reported.
“The family residence is in the South District, so we still have a little trickle of water on the tap, but most areas don’t have any at all.
“Of course, it is summer time, and we are expecting a heatwave in the 35 to 40 degrees next week – and with four adults and three children at the place, I don’t know what is going to happen.
“We are mostly worried about vulnerable people and children. We don’t know what the back up plan is.”
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Victoria and her family have not been able to shower since Thursday- which she says is hard amid the heatwave.
Natasha Goody, another resident from the South District, confirmed she had not had any tap water since 3pm on Thursday.
Picardo, who is on annual leave in the US, said Acting Chief Minister Joseph Garcia “is chairing contingency meetings of all relevant agencies”.
“We will fix this problem and work to prevent recurrence,” Picardo said.
The Government of Gibraltar has also issued public health advice to parents and guardians with children under 12 month.
AquaGib said that the fire burning inside Gibraltar’s Powers Drive Tunnel for several days resulted in significant rockfall inside the tunnel which was discovered on Thursday afternoon.
This has resulted in damage to AquaGib and GibElec infrastructure, the territory’s water and electricity companies, respectively.
AquaGib are working with the Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service who are providing safe access to investigate and assess any potential damage to its pipework.
AquaGib confirmed its plant had not been operational since Tuesday and that work is underway to restore normal operations.
“This possibility [the damage to the infrastructure] had been considered a risk and as such planning has been in place over the last two days in order to safeguard water supply as much as possible,” AquaGib said in a press release.
The utilities company said it estimates it could take up to five days to before normal water production can resume. The extent of the damage caused by the fire and rockfall is not yet known.
AquaGib Gibraltar wrote: “Please note that our team will be delivering two bottles of water per person to the following locations within the next hour: Westside Area by the Montagu Gardens Gate; Evacuation Roundabout by Netgear; Beachview Terraces.”
The Sun has requested comments from the British Embassy in Madrid, British border guards as well as Spanish border guards.
The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, meanwhile, told The Sun it has no jurisdiction over home affairs related to border management or its staff deployed on them.
A spokesman for Spanish Ministry of Interior told The Sun: “The situation at the Gibraltar border has not changed, and we are not aware that the events that you describe have taken place.”
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Source: Sun
