Gardeners, both in the public and private sectors, are experiencing with anguish the current drought emergency, which is collapsing their activity. The situation is classified as “critical”. They consider that in the end aid for ERTE will be necessary and ask for a modification of the special drought plan to make the total restrictions that affect irrigation more flexible.

Gardeners have seen orders plummet. Water is a basic resource for them; Trees need watering and maintenance. Their activity is above all affected because, by not being able to irrigate, they cannot make plantations and neither can they carry out maintenance work, summarizes Miquel Marín, president of the Gardening Guild of Catalonia, which brings together 2,500 companies of various sizes and some 13,000 workers.

All of this is causing hiring to stop. Many citizens who previously considered installing an irrigation system or completing the garden now give up doing so knowing that they will not be able to use the water later.

Although some minor tasks could be carried out (moving land, setting up a flowerbed or setting up an irrigation system…), clients no longer see a reason to embark on these improvements. If they can no longer water, they give up having a garden. No one makes an investment if they know that the plants are going to die.

The garden sector fears the risk of business closures. Billing was reduced by 20% in December and the situation has worsened until it became critical. Companies still show a certain pulse, but this could break in a month and a half. “Approaches are being made that involve taking very drastic measures,” says Marín.

The Gremi has asked Treball for help if there is an ERTE, invoking reasons of force majeure or unexpected reasons. This aid could be guaranteed for companies, but they also ask that it be extended to the self-employed.

Professionals complain that they are the only sector that has had their water use cut off 100%. Since the emergency began, irrigation has been completely banned, with one exception: only trees in public spaces and singular trees (the olive tree in a hotel, for example) are allowed to be watered, but as long as it is done with regenerated or groundwater water.

This exception, however, does not apply to private gardens, which are suffering the worst. Therefore, they launch an SOS to save them.

Gardeners consider that this measure is discriminatory, since while the washing of streets with groundwater or regenerated water is authorized as an exception (or even using it in federated sports fields) it is not possible to do the same to save trees in private spaces.

“It is incomprehensible, since trees have the same environmental function, whether they are in a public or private place,” he adds.

For this reason, they demand that this “discrimination” not be allowed in the areas of the territory where there is regenerated water.

The Gremi highlights that the restrictions have been made in a generic and Solomonic way without taking into account “that many people have done things well.” For this reason, they consider it incomprehensible that the use of rainwater is not allowed, both in public and private places, for irrigation, while it is possible to use it to clean streets.

The Gremi launches an SOS to save the trees in private gardens, subject to a total veto on irrigation.

“Many people have made tanks in their garden to collect rainwater or have a place where they have collected groundwater. There is a lot of water available that could be used and before throwing it into the sea, it should all be reused,” explains Marín.

The gardeners ask the Government of the Generalitat for more decisive action to inject regenerated water into the system. “Saving policies are very good, but we need more supply of reclaimed water. It is not about regenerating all the water, but as much as we can. But there is a lack of political will,” says Marín.

The sector also wants recognition of the efficiency efforts in water use that they have been making for years. The gardens have changed a lot in recent times. Grass has been replaced by bushy and aromatic plants to promote acclimatization; Drop-by-drop irrigation has become widespread; padding to retain moisture…That is why they see it necessary to prestige their activity with a certification of good practices.