La calidad de aguas en España por los siglos de los siglos

The earliest concern on water quality in Spain dates back to the XI century BP when Jacobeus pilgrims had to drink safe waters along their way. Later, they have been many attempts to deal with pollution effects on human health. This review reports some historical developments of the idea, following the odour trail, with higher concern in Spain on pollution effects on the environment in the late XX century. A plethora of regulations has recently been produced but they are unfortunately unapplied and even avoided, despite many efforts to deal with wastewaters and their effects. As a result, Spanish water quality has been improved in recent years, but we happen to observe an ecological homogeneization of aquatic environments (and hence a lower richness of freshwaters) throughout the country.