2023-05-19 13:24:37
The war of promises around water is going well in the campaign for the municipal and regional elections on May 28. With bills, threats and thunderous declarations, the debate on water has taken a virulent turn. By recently approving a bill to regularize hundreds of hectares of red fruit production around the Doñana park, supplied by illegal wells, the Andalusian government of the Popular Party (PP, right), supported by the extreme right Vox, sparked controversy.
“We do not touch Doñana! »
This park, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, of great natural wealth, is threatened by drought and the overexploitation of its groundwater. According to the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), more than 59% of the park’s lagoons are now dry.
The political decision of the Andalusian government has sparked a standoff with the central government but also with Brussels. The European Commissioner for the Environment has warned that « if this project were approved as is, it could further degrade the Doñana wetland park, one of the largest in Europe and of great importance for the coherence of the European Natura 2000 network ».
The President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, banged his fist on the table, assuring that“we do not touch Doñana, the heritage of all Spaniards ». The Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, threatened to go to the Constitutional Court to block this bill. The stubbornness of the Andalusian executive can cost him dearly, with a fine of several million at the key.
Short-term electoral strategy
The attitude of the local authorities is part of the short-term electoral strategy, their eyes riveted on the next election, when everyone knows on the spot that there is no water available. The controversy quickly invaded the electoral campaign. The leader of the right-wing opposition, Alberto Nuñez Feijóo, did not hesitate to go there, in Huelva, at the end of April, the same day that Pedro Sanchez, the president of the government, was nearby, in the park of Donana.
The opportunity to cross swords. “Right-wing climate denialism is lethal,” hammered Pedro Sanchez, convinced that environmental issues work in favor of the socialists. Alberto Nuñez Feijóo, on the other hand, at the same time accused the head of government of inflating the controversy for “hide its inaction in water management”. A transparent allusion to the other regions affected by the drought. The government’s decision to limit the transfer of water from the Tagus River to the Segura has also provoked anger.
«Carrying this bill on the Doñana, the Andalusian government and therefore the right want to appear as the defenders of farmers against the central government”, deciphers Cristina Monge, political scientist, professor of sociology at the University of Zaragoza. « We simply cannot increase the area for watered crops », loose on his side Joaquin Paez, the president of the Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation.
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