Pending what the representation of the PSC will be in the new Council of Ministers that President Pedro Sánchez puts together, the leader of the opposition in Catalonia and the Catalan socialists, Salvador Illa, has resumed his critical but “constructive” role, according to apostille, on the action of the Government of Pere Aragonès. Two issues monopolize this criticism: the response to the acute drought suffered by Catalonia and the delay in the implementation of renewable energies, in which the Catalan community is behind Spain.
In statements from the Besòs water purification plant, Illa lamented that Catalonia faces a future “without water and in the dark” due to the lack of planning, prevention and action of successive pro-independence governments in the last 10 years, although he has promised that His party will help in any way it can to reverse this inaction. Help in the Parliament and in the institutions in which we are present, under three principles, he said, that of “collaboration”; that of “proportionality”, supporting the necessary measures “without overacting”, he warned, and above all with “speed” in the execution of the necessary investments.
“We will help, but when we have overcome the most complicated moments, we will have to ask ourselves some questions,” Illa said, in clear reference to the Government’s responsibility in this situation. In fact, the leader of the PSC launched some with which he wanted to highlight the inaction of the Catalan Executive in matters of water and energy. “What have we been doing these last 10 years? Why are we not prepared to face a situation of this type? Why, if three years ago we knew that we were facing a serious drought, have we done nothing? Where have the energies of Catalonia’s institutions been focused in these 10 years? What has the Government done? Why is the Government’s last major hydraulic investment in the El Prat treatment plant, under the presidency of José Montilla?
Illa has denounced that the Government was warned about the seriousness of the drought. He referred to some words from the director of the Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya, Sarai Sarroca, last week in Parliament, when she clarified that Meteocat warned of the serious situation that was coming in the spring of 2021, while the interdepartmental commission of the Government to face this crisis it was not created until autumn 2022, more than a year and a half later.
Although Illa believes that a deep reflection will have to be done on this matter, also on the fact that Catalonia is behind Spain in the production of renewable energy, he has indicated that “now is the time to lend a hand.”
At this point, the leader of the PSC has launched a couple of proposals to try to mitigate the situation. On the one hand, from the point of view of processing the bureaucracy for the execution of the necessary water works, and on the other, proposing that the Besòs treatment plant serve to put more water into circulation for consumption in the metropolitan area of ??Barcelona.
Regarding the first aspect, Illa has pointed out that “if the situation is an emergency and exceptional one,” the Government should have no doubts when using the emergency and exceptional mechanisms that are provided for in the current legal system, and that In his opinion, they would allow the necessary investments to be made to help alleviate the water crisis that Catalonia is suffering. The socialist leader thus refers to the emergency expediting of the contracts necessary to carry out works, as was done during the covid pandemic for the acquisition of medical supplies.
Regarding the Besòs treatment plant, Illa considers that instead of discharging the already purified water into the sea, it could be pumped upstream again, which would provide 50 cubic hectometers of water per year, of the 180 that the metropolitan area of Barcelona annually. These 50 hectometers would join the other 50 that are already regenerated and discharged into the Llobregat and the 60 that are achieved with desalination, which would practically entail self-sufficiency.
Along with these measures, Illa claims that once the drought is overcome it will be necessary to “thoroughly review the Catalan Water Agency.” The leader is committed to analyzing “what he has done in terms of planning, execution and prevention” in the face of this crisis, as well as his powers and the resources he currently has. “We will have to take the appropriate measures at the time,” he claimed.
