Spain Spain Spain Spain

Desertification Spain


An estimated 115 million hectares or 12% of Europe’s total land area are subject to water erosion, and 42 million hectares are affected by wind erosion. An estimated 45% of European soils have low organic matter content, principally in Southern Europe but also in areas of France, the UK and Germany (7).

At large part of Spanish territory suffers from desertification. Different numbers are being reported: one fifth of the land is currently at risk of turning into deserts (1); 31.5% of the land is already affected by desertification (2). In the Guadalquivir river basin, for instance, years of over-abstraction to irrigate rice fields and olive groves have led to serious water deficits (3). In coastal areas, the water shortage and land-loss problem could be exacerbated by sea-level rise and subsequent salinisation processes (1).

Desertification at present is mainly due to forest fires, the loss of soil fertility of irrigated land by salinization, and erosion. Climate change will deteriorate soil fertility through a loss of carbon from the soil (4,6,8).



Adaptation strategies

Desertification can be combated through irrigation and reafforestation (2).



  1. Anderson (ed.) (2007)
  3. Dworak et al. (2007b), in: Anderson (ed.) (2007)
  4. Government of Spain. Quinta Comunicación Nacional de España
  5. EEA, JRC and WHO (2008)
  6. IPCC (2007), in: EEA, JRC and WHO (2008)
  7. European Commission (DG Environment) (2007)
  8. IPCC (2014)