“In Aragon there is not enough water and we are against any type of transfer from the Ebro.” With small variations, President Aragonés, Jorge Azcón, uttered this phrase on up to five occasions today to reiterate his rejection of the messages launched by other regional leaders of his own party (Catalunya, Community of Valencia, Murcia) in which they demand water connections .
In the regional courts, Azcón defended his “immovable stance” justified by the fact that this is stated in the Statute of Autonomy, the regulations of the European Union and the data, which “speak” of the problem of drought.
Likewise, he took the opportunity to demand the full execution of the works of the Water Pact – including the Biscarrués reservoir, already ruled out by the courts – and called for consensus to the PSOE to join forces around a univocal position that ” be heard throughout Spain” in the face of the obvious differences that exist with other popular leaders and with their government partner, an openly transferist Vox.
In this sense, the president admitted that the transfer represented a “red line” in the drafting of his government pact with the extreme right, and insisted that “he is not going to give in” in this section.
Azcón intervened this Wednesday at the request of the PSOE, which warned him that in this matter he is in “absolute solitude” given the positions of his coalition partners and other territorial barons of the PP, who demand the interconnection of basins.
Within his party, the last to speak out in this regard was Alejandro Fernández, leader of the popular Catalans and candidate for the regional elections, who ten days ago defended the transfer of water from the Ebro in a timely manner to Barcelona and its metropolitan area so as not to leave it unsupplied in case of extreme drought.
“We are going to get rid of prejudices and nonsense and we are going to follow the advice of those who know, who are the engineers of the College of Engineers of Catalonia,” he stated then, in reference to the proposal launched by these institutions in favor of a connection express with the Ebro river network.
In his opinion, the “only” way to guarantee water in crisis situations are the interconnection infrastructures with the Ebro River to make specific extractions, works that were done in Tarragona and the Costa Daurada in the past and that now guarantee them the precious resources. “Catalonia does not deserve the grotesque image of water arriving in ships from other areas of Spain. An advanced society cannot afford to turn on the tap and have no water come out,” he added.
His statements added to those launched at the end of January by the president of Murcia, Fernando López Miras, who was in favor of the water connection: “If Catalonia asks for a transfer and needs it, go ahead, and the same thing happens with Andalusia.” Or those of the also popular president of the Valencian Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, who took advantage of future shipments to Catalonia via boat to demand more water for Alicante in the Tajo-Segura transfer.
From the Aragonese PSOE, its spokesperson, Mayte Pérez, accused the popular party of “resurrecting the ghost” of the transfers and blamed Azcón for having lost the game in the debate on water management because his colleagues “are heavyweights” against to him, who is “flyweight”. “The only guarantee that there will not be a transfer of the Ebro is the Executive of Pedro Sánchez,” stressed the socialist.
However, Azcón maintains that the position of his Executive is “immovable”, he regretted that they seek “differences” instead of joining forces and accused her of stirring up this debate as a “political tactic” that does not respond to a “real problem.” of the Aragonese, for whom the amnesty law and the possible reform of regional financing favorable to the interests of the independentists do represent a “threat” to equality.
