James Warren
THE residents of the hamlet of Las Jaras in Cordoba have taken to the streets this past weekend in protest at being left without drinking water for more than a week.
Over 100 people took part in the march, banging pots and pans and yelling in anger against the urbanisation’s ongoing water issues.
The picturesque area just 20 km north of Cordoba city had its water supply cut last Sunday due to ‘technical issues’ with the delivery system, just as the region was experiencing temperatures well above 30C.
Three days later, the supply was temporarily reconnected but the water was filled with sediment and unusable, before being cut off yet again just 24 hours later.
By Wednesday afternoon, the Spanish Army intervened and delivered truck loads of drinking water to allow residents to fill up their containers.
A social media neighbourhood group, Living Las Jaras, has been sharing details of the situation publicly.
“Waking up thinking that you have had a nightmare with a pandemic and that you do not have water in your home and realising that it is in fact the sad reality,” wrote Marisol Romero on the group’s Twitter account.
The private company in charge of the water supply to the area, Luxico, has been denounced by residents for not providing any warning that the supply would be cut nor offering solutions for the lack of water.
In a statement on Wednesday, Luxico announced that the technical problems had been ‘solved’ and that it was ‘proceeding to treat and decant the water to be pumped into the tank.’
“Once the tank is full, we will proceed to purge the network,” it said.
However the water that ran once again through the residents’ taps was thick with sediment.
Maria Jose Vazquez wrote: “We finally have water in our home … or is it Coca-Cola?”
At their wit’s end, residents gathered around the Lago de la Encantada to vent their frustration at a situation that has yet to have a solution.
Residents have asked the local government to ‘take sides’ in what they are calling a ‘breach of basic human rights’.
