April

The Spanish intelligence services are revealed to have spied on Catalan politicians, Macron is re-elected and masks are no longer compulsory

April

1. There was outrage in diplomatic circles, the Catalan parliament and the general public when the news broke that the mobile phones of 60 activists, lawyers and politicians involved in the Catalan independence movement had been tapped by the Spanish state using the Israeli software program Pegasus.

2. Despite some inclement weather threatening to turn the day sour, thousands of people flocked to outdoor bookstands on April 23 to celebrate Sant Jordi’s Day, Catalonia’s famous celebration of books and roses, which returned in its full form to the streets after a hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.

3. Emmanuel Macron was re-elected as President of France in the final round of elections held on April 24, defeating far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Macron took 58.5% of the vote, making him the first French leader to be reelected in 20 years. Yet voter abstention for the runoff was 28%, the highest in more than 50 years.

4. As the long-awaited news was finally announced that from April 20 face masks would no longer be mandatory in most public places, with the exceptions of hospitals and health centers and public transport, epidemiologists called for caution with the warning: “The pandemic is not over”.

Water scarcity

Water scarcity.

In order to raise awareness and highlight the increasing significance of water scarcity worldwide, in this month’s issue we took a look at the water management cycle and other pressing matters related to drought, water stress and water scarcity.