Axarquia towns at war over water

THREE towns in the Axarquia area are fighting for their fair share of water.
Arenas, Canillas de Albaida and Sayalonga share the same source of water, which flows from the Tejeda-Almijara Mountain range, located in Canillas de Albaida. The water is then channelled into a deposit that supplies the three municipalities.
As the demand grows during the summer season, this deposit does not reach a sufficient level for Canillas de Albaida to provide water to its districts (Puerto de la Carbonera, Eriales, Guzman and Fogarate). To avoid interrupting supply to residents, the stream is stopped for several hours per day in the areas of Arenas and Sayalonga, leaving these two towns unsupplied.
These interruptions in the supply are causing significant problems in Arenas, especially to those properties located in the countryside, which have been left without water for a whole week. In the urban areas, cuts in the system are registered every two or three hours.
In Sayalonga, residents who live in non-buildable areas are also suffering this interruption in the water supply. “They only have water every other day,” said Mayor Antonio Jesus Perez.
Mayors of the three affected towns have already requested that Malaga Provincial Council facilitate a new supply source to satisfy the water demands of all local people, and reminded that this problem has happened every summer for years.