TODAY IT’S A NICE PLACE TO LIVE BECAUSE ONE DAY IN THE PAST, PIPES ALLOWED IT TO DRINK ITS FILL. by JP Zurdo The pipe in the photo didn’t just channel water, it cut the strings of a corset that had been preventing the western part of Cadiz from growing. Since the early 20th century, areas like the naval base and cities full of potential like Cadiz, San Fernando, Puerto Real, Puerto de Santa Maria, Rota, Jerez de la Frontera, and San Lucar de Barrameda had been perpetually thirsty, with water arriving from just a few springs and an obsolete system. And those were the lucky ones. The others had to rely on domestic wells or buy jugs from water sellers. The news must have flown. After decades of waiting, and after a law was specifically passed in 1945, Entrecanales y Távora began to roll out the modern supply system featur-ing 100 kilometers of pipes with a diameter of 350 millimeters and operating pressures ranging from 3 to 12 atm. It multiplied a base flow drawn from reservoirs and delivered to fountains, homes and crops. The western part of the province could now attract a larger population, and heatwaves like the one shown in the photo, on August 12th, 1949 near San Fernando, would no longer be such a grievance. The parched, overheated laborers, who were smokers from Cadiz, would definitely have noticed this milestone. Look, son, under here is the pipe that brings us water. Just so you know, it was your father who put it there.