Without drinking water and with close to 40 degrees in the shade. It is not a town in the African desert. They are the inhabitants of 160 towns in the northwest of Salamanca and the south of Zamora who have been like this for almost three weeks, when they received the notice that the water coming out of the tap was contaminated with pesticides.
Twice a week, without fixed days, a tanker truck arrives at the pediment of Salda’s, one of the affected towns. And around him several neighbors with carafes are concentrated.
Resigned, they tell how they live these days, with a population tripling, because of their children, grandson and nephews who come from Bilbao, San Sebastián, Madrid, Barcelona or the capital Salamanca to spend a few days in town. More people than ever and hotter than ever, too. And with tap water not suitable for human consumption.
The number of neighbors affected? Well, although there is no official calculation, taking into account the census and the increase experienced by these populations in summer, the figure between the two provinces can reach around 50,000 people.
Alvaro Vega The family bar opens on these dates. When he found out that he had to prepare the coffee and make the ice in the machine using bottled water, “it almost gave me something,” he confesses.