The president of the Junta de AndalucÃa, Juanma Moreno, has been in favor of holding “discreet meetings” with the National Government to seek “imaginative alternatives” regarding the regularization of irrigation in the Doñana National Park (to which the European Union has already made its rejection clear), such as the exchange of land outside of what is known as the pre-park to the irrigators who demand to be legalized so that they can continue with their activity.
This proposal has come from the former vice president of the Government and for years president of the Doñana Board of Trustees, the socialist Alfonso Guerra.
This has been stated by Moreno in an interview on Antena 3 Televisión, in which the Andalusian president has also claimed that the bill being processed by the Andalusian Parliament at the initiative of the PP (with an absolute majority) and Vox be “withdrawn from the political debate” , while lamenting the “level of decibels and insults” reached around this proposal.
Faced with what he has described as “the silent response” by the Government of Pedro Sánchez to “negotiate alternatives” with which to “solve the problem” of irrigators “trapped in a certain legality”, Juanma Moreno has insisted that “it is not can build the Park against the rejection of the population”, defending, at this point, environmental protection with economic development. “A fine balance”, she has said, for which she has asked for “discreet meetings” against what “the Government wants, that we cross our arms.”
Finally, President Moreno has estimated the amount paid by the Andalusian Government in fines for dumping untreated water at around fifteen million “and there were no protests” then, he stressed. For this reason, he has demanded from Sánchez “not only aid but emergency works” to be able to attend to the drought and its effects.
In light of the extreme drought suffered by Andalusia, Moreno assured in the interview in the aforementioned chain that, if the lack of rain persists in the coming months, the Andalusian government will “analyze” the situation in September to adopt “restrictions” in the area of urban consumption, with an effect on irrigation, washing down and filling of swimming pools, among other issues. “Let’s hope it rains so as not to take painful measures” for the population as a whole and, therefore, beyond agricultural and livestock production, the two sectors in which the drought is having the most severe impact.”In a short time, there will be regions of Andalusia where the tap is going to open and there will be no water,” he said.
However, the president of the Board has remarked that for the summer, especially in coastal areas, consumption “is guaranteed.”
But not all areas of Andalusia are lucky enough to be in tourist or urban areas where Moreno guarantees that there will be water in summer. “Where there are going to be restrictions, and they already are, is in inland areas that are fed by aquifers that have not been able to be renewed because it has not rained,” he specified on March 19 in an interview on Onda Cero collected by La Vanguard.
The drought is an “economic and social drama” that, in the case of the Andalusian community, has already meant the loss of one point of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is equivalent to between 30,000 and 35,000 lost jobs. If the rains continue without making an appearance, the impact on GDP is estimated to be around seven points and could mean the loss of up to 140,000 jobs.
For this reason, it has demanded “diligence and efficiency” from the central government so that “resources arrive as soon as possible” with which to help ranchers and farmers to alleviate the large accumulated losses. “There are no pastures. There are farmers who only have ten days left and are sacrificing animals and closing farms. The situation is very delicate,” Moreno has given as an example.
