Ximo Puig challenges Ribera and requests a hearing from the Council of State to save the Tajo-Segura transfer

• Tajo-Segura Ribera completes the transfer cut after annulling the agreement with Puig and leaves the irrigators without the subsidy for desalinated water

The President of the Generalitat,

goes under the protection of the

to avoid a cut in the

transfer in the terms proposed by the Ministry of

, which would mean the death of the essential infrastructure for farmers in the southern Mediterranean basin.

After the unilateral decision endorsed by Minister

to modify the draft decree of the Tagus Basin Plan to immovably maintain the increase in ecological flows, the head of the Consell has sent a letter to the president of the Council of State ,

, requesting that it grant a hearing to the Valencian Community to present allegations.

This is a challenge from Puig to the Government after, following pressure from the President of Castilla-La Mancha,

, the Ministry chose to modify the text that was approved by the

on November 29 and which included an additional provision that allowed the transfer to be kept alive.

In that clause, the ecological flow was linked to a review in 2025 of the state of the river's water.

For the Generalitat, this provision "is essential to guarantee the maintenance of the transfer, so any modification or deletion of it, which appears in the latest draft of the Decree Law that is already in the possession of the Council of State, will find the strongest rejection" .

The position that Puig has been defending is to demand compliance with the agreements reached and warns that, in the event of non-compliance, the Generalitat will undertake all the actions within its power to defend the continuity of the Tajo-Segura transfer and thus support the just demands of the Alicante irrigators.

Although the president flees from verbalizing that there will be a legal conflict -which according to the irrigators can last for years without serving to save their farms-, it may be the only way out that the Government leaves for the Valencian socialist, who is facing the

, with

at the helm, making a firm defense of the transfer so essential for the Alicante regions.

"The agreement reached in the Water Council is reasonable and has nothing to do with any kind of water jingoism or water confrontation, but it is about acting in a" rational way to guarantee the water that generates thousands of jobs in Alicante and the Mediterranean area.

Furthermore, without infringing on anyone's right," said Puig, who reiterated his position alongside the irrigators "because they are right."

The Generalitat, in the letter addressed to the president of the Council of State, requests "as an Administration interested in the project" not only the hearing process to make allegations, but also "access to the file" sent by the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

The purpose is none other than to find out how he justifies the modification of the articles approved by the Water Council and with what arguments, given that the irrigators have already warned that he is taking refuge in a conflict that never occurred.

Puig has requested that the file be forwarded to both the Secretary of the Presidency and the General Director of Relations with the Autonomous Communities and Institutional Representation,

.

Desalinated water price

Ribera's challenge through the Council of State is not Puig's only discrepancy with the Ministry.

The President of the Generalitat also demands that the Government recover the

.

Acuamed communicated last Monday to the Central Union of Irrigators of the Tajo-Segura Aqueduct (SCRATS) that, after the end of December 31 of the

that covered aid for desalinated water in Torrevieja, the price became 1.40 euros, the triple.

The head of the Consell expressed his "frontal rejection of this decision", while calling on the Government "to redirect the situation and reconsider its position".

"Because we are talking about a territory where agriculture plays a very important role and, consequently, it is especially sensitive to the price of water."

Puig considers that the current situation "does not make a decision of this nature advisable at all" and requires the Executive to "maintain the subsidy for desalinated water so that it is affordable for irrigators."

Mazón: "Puig has no political or moral authority"

Puig's movements arrive late for the Popular Party.

His president,

, believes that the president no longer has "moral, certainty, or political authority to talk about the transfer" Tajo-Segura.

In addition, he has described the phrase 'water forever' as a "hoax", since he has indicated that it is "for as long as you can afford it".

"The only ones who are taking all the appropriate measures to guarantee the transfer are the PP and the institutions governed by the PP. The others are the ones who come behind, with small mouths and almost with shame," he said.

"We have 22 unjustified cuts in the Tajo-Segura transfer, without any technical report to support it, and a report in the Water Council with a very serious cut, where Puig has abstained, has been silent. He sells as an agreement what is a deceit and another blow to the transfer, and not even the deceit has been respected. He has wanted to deceive us and on top of that they have ignored us," he said.

For Mazón, Puig should have acted earlier, "clench your fist and put it hard on the table in Madrid, put your land before the interests of the PSOE party. The only thing we can do now to get the water is for Puig and Sánchez stop ruling," he said.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• Ximo Puig

• Magdalena Valerio