1 Challenging the conventional paradigm of water scarcity through the water footprint: The Spanish example1

In most arid and semiarid countries, water resource management is an issue as important as controversial. Today most water resources experts admit that water conflicts are not caused by the physical scarcity of water but they are mainly due to poor water management as many authors and institutions recognize. However, scientific and technological advances that occurred in the last fifty years open new paths to solving many water related conflicts, often with tools that a few decades ago seemed unthinkable. The present chapter deals with the water footprint and virtual water analysis of Spain, both from a hydrological perspective, differentiating the green and blue components, and from an economic point of view. The water footprint study is making traditional water and food security concepts change. According to available data, at a global scale, food production is the main green and blue water user, being agriculture at the centre of the present study. Along these lines, national water policies are going to be increasingly linked to the agricultural policies, not only concerning food production but also i