Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: PABLO CAMACHO / ALTOPRESS / PHOTOALTO VIA AFP 17:48 pm, May 05, 2023

The Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu announced this Friday at the microphone of RTL that the sale of above-ground pools will be prohibited in the Pyrénées-Orientales from May 10. This department is affected by an exceptional drought and new water restrictions are to come into force.

The sale of above-ground pools will be banned in the Pyrénées-Orientales from next week, announced the Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu Friday at the microphone of RTL. This decision is taken "in order to avoid having people who buy swimming pools and then have the temptation to fill them even though this filling is prohibited," he explained.

"The reality of nature"

The announcement comes at a time when "crisis" measures, including new water restrictions, are expected to come into force on May 10 in this department affected by an exceptional drought. "This is not a decision of the government, it is the reality of nature and the situation in which we are, we must get used to the idea that global warming is now," said the minister.

>> READ ALSO - Pyrénées-Orientales: how is the department coping with the lack of water and drought?

This "crisis alert level", the highest, will concern "the territories of Tet and Agly", two rivers crossing part of this border department of Spain, had announced the prefect last week, after a meeting of the Local Water Resources Committee. "This department lives in anticipation what is likely to experience some of the departments around the Mediterranean," said Christophe Béchu on the spot last Thursday, during a Committee of anticipation and hydrological monitoring (CASH).