## 1 Introduction  
Water scarcity in Spain has become a topic of water for the Spanish population is one of the major challenges that the Spanish government faces today. In 2023, urgent measures and actions were taken concerning agricultural, tourism, and water matters in response to drought and the worsening of climate change by government bodies through Royal Decree-Law 4/2023 [1] in Spain and the Directive 2000/60/EC [2] of the European Parliament. Indeed, in the Catalonia and Andalusia regions, water shortages have been nothing new in the last five years. [PERSON] et al. [3] note that the frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme heat, or agricultural and ecological drought events, have increased in many Mediterranean regions. Moreover, the World Bank [4], the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) [5], and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, known as the OECD [6] informed that water-related losses in agriculture, health, tourism, and private property sectors can reduce the global gross domestic product (GDP) by 6% by 2050. Veritably, the use of water in the tourism sector is receiving increasing attention from these three organizations. Adaptation to climate change is inextricably linked to water management [7; 8]. Many people are suffering water use restrictions across the globe as a result of the impact of a lack of rain and the effects of climate change, and Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Suntory, Univer, Icelandic Glacial, Amazon, or Vichy Catalan firms have seen this weakness as an opportunity to invest in bottled water and increase their profits. Tourism contributes to climate change [9]. La Vanguardia [10] and Tejada [11] reported that more than 600 municipalities in Andalusia (south of Spain) and Catalonia (northeastern Spain) regions suffered water use restrictions because some swamps were at 9 percent of their water capacity according to the Council of Agriculture, Fishing, Water, and Rural Development of Andalusia [12]. Among the strict measures taken by the Andalusian government were cutting the water supply to showers on all beaches; prohibiting residents from washing their cars in certain areas or filling their swimming pools; imposing limits on street cleaning, and temporarily suspending the watering of gardens, parks, and golf courses. Obviously, residents and the tourism sector were the most affected by these drastic measures. The use of water by the tourism industry requires prudent and effective management to guarantee the water availability of residents. Despite the fact that water is an essential input for tourism, the consumption by the Spanish tourism industry is 15% and this is mainly concentrated in coastal areas [13]. The tourism sector has increased water consumption over the last several years due to rising tourism demand at tourist destinations [14; 15], and this has led to the demand for water consumption constantly growing in the Spanish territory [16]. There are several gaps in the analysis of water consumption linked to tourism [17] and residents [18; 19], but this topic needs to be studied more thoroughly in areas subject to water stress [20]. The competition for the consumption and sustainability of water use between economic sectors and residents must be researched [21]. Therefore, it is necessary to improve and extend the scope of research on water consumption in the Spanish tourism industry. The research objective of the present study is to tackle the priority of water consumption in the Spanish tourism industry as long as the availability of water is guaranteed for residents, without constraints on the supply. Facing the priority of residents' needs vs. tourists' demand dilemma in the water consumption and tourism activity context, governments and researchers should explore and analyse the needs and priorities of each of them to make prudent decisions, especially when water management and tourism activities are intricately linked to tourism development [22]. Furthermore, this study describes some of the research gaps to which this paper contributes.