Chema Rodríguez Sevilla

Seville

Updated Wednesday, January 31, 2024-19:13

  • Chronicle At the epicenter of the "superdrought": the dry irrigated swamp not far from rainy Grazalema

  • Forecasts The high cost of drought in Andalusia: summer restrictions and economic slowdown

Last year, 2023, barely

376.5 millimeters

of water fell in Andalusia, which is 67% of what, let's put it this way, is normal. Or it was normal. It was 2023, in fact, the fifth driest year since 1961 and to that we must add that the temperatures were higher than they usually are. The perfect cocktail that explains why the community suffers what some experts no longer hesitate to call a "superdrought" comparable to that of the mid-90s of the last century. And that takes its toll.

Specifically, and in the case of Andalusia, a bill of

4,270 million euros of wealth

that was lost due to the drought and its effect on the regional economy, according to calculations made by the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Funds Europeans. But, in addition, the department headed by Carolina España estimates that the lack of water has translated into a drop in agricultural production of 13%, a drop in the agri-food industry of another 13%, a drop in the production of cereals of up to 35.2% and a drop in vegetable production of 7%. The balance is no more positive with regard to non-citrus fruit trees, whose production fell by 9.6%.

But not only did wealth fall, so did

employment

. To be exact, and always according to data from the Junta de Andalucía, all this caused a decrease in the number of employees in the agricultural sector of almost 10% and, with regard to the agri-food sector, of 4.5%.

There is more. Such as a decrease in the number of

agricultural companies

registered with Social Security of 3% and 4% in the case of food exporting companies. As well as a decrease in the food trade balance surplus of 15.1%.

The forecast, yet to be confirmed, made by the Andalusian Government, is that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the community will drop

by 2.1% in 2023

due to the effect of the drought, the 4,270 million euros of losses mentioned above. Without them, the wealth of Andalusia last year would be 203,343 million euros.

The president of the Board, Juanma Moreno, this Wednesday in Brussels. BOARD OF ANDALUSIA

These arguments, the especially pronounced losses that the lack of rain is causing in Andalusia, are those that Juanma Moreno's executive has used for some time to request

differential treatment

from the European Union in the form of aid to alleviate the effects of the drought.

The latest initiative is

a letter

that the Andalusian president will send to the Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, in the "next few days" urging her to formally ask the EU to activate the Solidarity Fund in the face of what he describes as a true "catastrophe." natural".

Moreno, who this Wednesday attended the meeting of the Committee of Regions in Brussels, also intends to convey this request to the minister personally at the National Green Hydrogen Congress to be held from February 7 to 9 in Huelva, as explained to Efe sources from the regional Executive.

The Andalusian Government trusts in the necessary

support of the State

for this initiative, which has been Moreno's main claim on his official trip to Brussels, which has been transferred to the executive vice president of the European Commission, Maro Šefovi.

However, the official request must be made by the State, in this case the Government of Spain, and the aid would later reach Andalusia.

Moreno understands that the central government will have no reason to oppose this request, since otherwise it would commit

"a very serious mistake"

and institutional disloyalty.