The battle for water in Doñana, which has opened a new front between the Junta de Andalucía and the central government, has moved this week to Brussels, where the European Socialist Group has undertaken a campaign against the bill endorsed by the Executive of Juanma Moreno, including incorrect information about the intentions of the regional administration, Well, it speaks of the authorization of new extractions of water from the aquifer, an information that is false.

The proposal of the Andalusian Government contemplates the extension of the irrigable land in the Northern Crown of Doñana, provided that surface water from transfers is available. That is, the project does not promote, a priori, new water withdrawals from the aquifer that feeds the Doñana wetlands, unless the competent authorities decide otherwise. And that competent authority is the Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation, which depends on the central government.

The project does involve legalizing the crops that currently exist in the area without authorization and that use water from illegal wells that aggravate the situation of overexploitation of the aquifer.

The Board has been arguing that its proposal, far from generating more pressure on the aquifer, will help alleviate it because it will serve to put an end to all these illegal wells. However, it has received the unanimous rejection of scientists and conservationists working in Doñana, because it means increasing the water needs of irrigators in the future, despite the fact that resources will be increasingly scarce as a result of the increase in periods of drought linked to climate change.

The Group of the Party of European Socialists has sent a letter to the Commission ignoring all these nuances and stating that what the Andalusian Government is seeking is simply to increase water withdrawals from the aquifer, which is not in line with the reality of the proposal. The Board, for its part, has moved tab and already has an appointment in Brussels on May 3 to try to counter disinformation. In addition, the European People's Party has also addressed the Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevicius, and the Vice-President, Frans Timmermans, demanding a meeting to give them direct transfer of the content of the bill, which, in their opinion, does not endanger the conservation of Doñana.

The war is being waged in the last hours in the European institutions, because they are in charge of monitoring compliance with the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU, which already in 2021 condemned Spain for not doing the homework it had imposed for a correct conservation of the water reserves of the National Park. The PP maintains that its bill (which Vox supports) does not breach that sentence.

For his part, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, described on Tuesday as "illegal" the proposed law because, he says, it arrogates a competence that is not autonomous and because it is "unreal", given that "water is not available". Planas warned about the reputational damage that Spain may suffer from the approval of the Andalusian proposal, a damage that adds to the impact that the drought is already having on the Andalusian economy. The minister asked the Andalusian Government to take a step back in this regard.

  • Doñana
  • Luis Planas
  • Add
  • To:
  • PP
  • Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla
  • Justice
  • Drought
  • Seville

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