Chema Rodríguez Sevilla
Seville
Updated Tuesday, February 6, 2024-19:08
Negotiation Juanma Moreno recovers the spirit of Doñana to remove the drought from the political fray
Ships loaded with drinking water could arrive in Andalusia this summer from Murcia. More specifically, from the Escombreras desalination plant in Cartagena, and with the ports of Carboneras (Almería), Málaga and Algeciras (Cádiz) as destinations. Works are already being carried out there precisely to adapt them to the arrival of
large ships with water
that can replace what there is not in the community's reservoirs.
The Minister of Sustainability, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, confirmed this Tuesday that the Junta de Andalucía has practically closed an agreement with the government of Murcia - both are governed by the PP - to bring water from that region, a possibility that is contemplated in in case the drought persists and the
water emergency
worsens. The agreement would be at the expense of the approval of the Segura Hydrographic Confederation, which is the same as saying the Ministry of Ecological Transition, on which it depends.
Fernández-Pacheco has been optimistic and has assured that there is an
"open and fruitful" dialogue
with Murcia, "but we need the Government of Spain" not only because it has the powers but also because, in addition, the regional executive intends for it to be the central one. to assume the cost.
The Cartagena desalination plant is one of the largest in the country and has the capacity to produce more than
22.8 cubic hectometers
, although it is underused and barely reaches 2 cubic hectometers
.
This will be, in fact, one of the issues that will be on the table in the meeting that the Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno, and the third vice president and Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, have agreed to have, after opening a new
avenue of dialogue
between the two administrations on account of the drought.
Moreno and Ribera plan to hold
two meetings
this February with the drought as the focus, one will be telematic and the other in person. However, the Sustainability Minister has insisted that there is weekly and periodic communication between the teams of the two administrations, although he considers it important that it "be staged" with a meeting. "The last thing citizens want is politicians waging sterile wars over water," he remarked.
He has described the fight against drought as a "major challenge" and in light of this, he emphasized, "all help is little."
But the transfer of water by boat is not the only issue that Andalusia requests. In addition, and the president of the Board has placed special emphasis on this, the Board wants the European Union to activate its
Solidarity Fund
so that the community receives extraordinary funds with which to face the effects of the drought, which will end in 2023. translated into 4.2 billion less wealth.
Ribera, although at the time he did not see it as the most appropriate option, has opened up to studying this possibility, although the participation of the
Ministry of Finance
would be necessary . In this sense, Fernández-Pacheco has been convinced that the first vice president, María Jesús Montero, "will lend her shoulder."