Spain's Drought Reaches National Emergency Levels.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has warned that the country's acute drought has become one of its leading long-term concerns, with three years of scant rainfall and high temperatures officially putting Spain into long-term drought last month. The Mediterranean region as a whole is warming faster than the global average due to climate change caused by the release of greenhouse gases. Water restrictions have been imposed in the driest areas, and regional authorities in northeast Catalonia have warned that Barcelona and a wide surrounding area could enter a drought "emergency" by September unless forecasts prove wrong.