Spanish story with translation · B2 · 16 lines
Queda prohibido regar con manguera Watering with a hose is prohibited
Comic · 8 panels
Ayuntamiento de Valencia. Servicio de Medio Ambiente: medidas por la sequía.
Valencia City Hall. Environment Department: drought measures.
El agua es un recurso escaso, y este verano los embalses tienen menos agua que otros años.
Water is a scarce resource, and this summer the reservoirs have less water than in other years.
Por eso, mientras dure la sequía, habrá restricciones en toda la ciudad.
For this reason, as long as the drought lasts, there will be restrictions throughout the city.
Queda prohibido regar con manguera, llenar piscinas privadas y lavar coches en la calle.
It is prohibited to water with a hose, fill private swimming pools and wash cars on the street.
Las plantas se pueden regar con cubo o regadera, y solo de noche o a primera hora de la mañana.
Plants may be watered with a bucket or a watering can, and only at night or first thing in the morning.
Se ruega a los vecinos reducir el consumo de agua en casa: ducharse en lugar de bañarse y cerrar el grifo mientras no se usa.
Residents are asked to reduce their water consumption at home: take showers instead of baths and turn off the faucet while it isn't in use.
Se recuerda que el agua potable no se debe usar para limpiar terrazas, calles ni vehículos.
Please remember that drinking water must not be used to clean terraces, streets or vehicles.
Queda prohibido tirar residuos a los ríos: contaminan el agua que después usan los agricultores y toda la ciudad.
It is prohibited to dump waste in the rivers: it pollutes the water that farmers and the whole city use afterward.
La agricultura y la huerta también sufren la sequía, y sin agua no hay cosecha.
Agriculture and the farmland (huerta) are also suffering from the drought, and without water there is no harvest.
También se aconseja reutilizar el agua de lavar la verdura para regar las plantas y no desperdiciar ni una gota.
It is also recommended to reuse the water from washing vegetables to water plants and not to waste a single drop.
Cuanta menos agua desperdiciamos, más tiempo dura la que queda en los embalses.
The less water we waste, the longer the water left in the reservoirs lasts.
En las zonas forestales queda prohibido hacer fuego, aunque sea para una paella.
In forest areas, it is prohibited to light a fire, even if it's for a paella.
Se recuerda que con tanto calor y tan poca lluvia el riesgo de incendio forestal es muy alto.
Please remember that with so much heat and so little rain, the risk of a forest fire is very high.
La policía podrá multar a quien no cumpla estas normas.
The police will be able to fine anyone who doesn't follow these rules.
Estas medidas son temporales y se revisarán cuando los embalses recuperen su nivel.
These measures are temporary and will be reviewed when the reservoirs are back to their normal level.
Más información en el servicio municipal de educación ambiental y en la página del Ayuntamiento.
More information at the city's environmental education service and on the City Hall website.
Grammar for this text
The language of notices. This is how notices are written; you'll read these phrases more often than you'll say them.
- Queda prohibido regar con manguera — "watering with a hose is prohibited". After queda prohibido there is always an infinitive: tirar residuos, hacer fuego. Here queda means "the ban is in force".
- Se ruega a los vecinos reducir el consumo — "residents are asked to reduce their consumption". Se ruega is a polite request, also followed by an infinitive; the people being asked go after a.
- Se recuerda que el agua potable no se debe usar — "please remember that drinking water must not be used". After se recuerda que comes the normal form (indicative): it's a fact, not a wish. No se debe usar — "must not be used", an impersonal form.
- mientras dure la sequía — "as long as the drought lasts": nobody knows how long, so mientras takes the subjunctive. The same with cuando los embalses recuperen su nivel — "when the reservoirs are back to their normal level": that's still ahead.
- cerrar el grifo mientras no se usa — "turn off the faucet while it isn't in use": se instead of naming a person.
- a quien no cumpla estas normas — "anyone who doesn't follow these rules": quien here means "whoever, anyone who", so cumpla is in the subjunctive.
- Cuanta menos agua desperdiciamos, más tiempo dura la que queda — cuanta because of agua; la que queda — "the water that's left".
- la huerta — not just a vegetable garden: in Valencia this is the name for the irrigated farmland around the city. aunque sea para una paella — "even if it's for a paella": paella is often cooked over an open fire outside the city, so the notice names it.
Words and grammar of the unit: Save water in a drought and a heat wave.
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