- Sicily, Italy, is in a state of emergency due to the worst drought the country has seen in 20 years.
- Water rationing is so strict that hotel and guesthouse owners are turning away tourists.
- As the region’s economy is driven by tourism, the drought is threatening financial stability.
An extreme drought in Sicily is the worst the Italian island has seen in 20 years, and is so severe that it is threatening the region’s economy.
Drought in Sicily has caused the local climate to mimic that of Ethiopia, Britain’s Sky News reported, triggering a state of emergency, drying up lakes and prompting authorities to implement strict water rationing.
The rationing is so strict — with some residents being asked to reduce their water usage by as much as 45% — that it is leading some hotel and guesthouse owners to turn away guests because they cannot guarantee that showers will work or toilets will flush, CNN reported.
“Of course, people ask us for guarantees before coming, but we don’t know what to say,” Giovanni Lopez, owner of Le Cinque Novelle bed and breakfast (B&B) in central Agrigento, told CNN. “The situation is rapidly impacting the entire tourist accommodation sector, which risks serious economic consequences, given that tourism is a sector on which almost everyone in this part of Sicily depends.”
The economic impact is impossible to ignore — between empty reservoirs and animals that died due to the drought, CNN reported that the region lost more than a billion euros, or almost $1.1 billion.
Representatives for Italy’s tourism ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. However, CNN reported that Italy’s tourism minister, Daniela Santanchè, suggested in April that Sicily should try to expand its tourism beyond the summer to deal with the region’s worsening water crisis.
In addition to the drought, several regions in Italy, including Sicily, are also facing population destabilization, leading authorities to offer incentives for relocation to rural areas in the hope that new residents will help stabilize population levels.
