The Spanish government this Thursday announced a package of measures worth nearly €2.2 billion to combat the country’s intense drought and its impact on the productive sector.
Of the total €2.19 billion, at least €1.4 billion will be allocated, mainly to increase water availability, and another €780 million to help farmers, the government said at the time. of the worst droughts.
The package “aims to take urgent measures in the fields of agriculture and water and in response to deteriorating conditions in the primary sector due to the armed conflict in Ukraine and the drought,” government spokeswoman Isabel Rodríguez said at a press conference following an extraordinary council meeting. . of ministers.
Investments to improve access to water will focus both on building new infrastructure, such as desalination plants, and doubling the reuse of urban water. At the same time, it will pay for the reduction in the rates producers pay to access water.
The support to farmers will mainly be used to subsidize up to 70% of the cost of drought insurance. This year, damage from lack of water in plantations is estimated at more than 300 million euros, said Agriculture Minister Luís Planas.
The government of Pedro Sánchez made this announcement just hours before the start of the campaign for the May 28 municipal and regional elections. The impact of the drought and the availability of water in the country are among the main themes of the current election race.
Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, from the right, accused Sánchez of wanting to “cheat” the producers before the election, after the “failure” to cope with the drought so far.
These were the first four months of the “driest” year since records began in 1961, with less than half the usual rainfall for the time, according to a note by State Meteorological Agency spokesman Rubén del Campo. ., the press.
Data from the Ministry of Ecological Transition indicates that the country’s reservoirs – which store rainwater for use in the driest months – are currently operating at 48.9% capacity.
As one of the European countries on the front line against climate change, Spain has been experiencing an increase in heat waves for several years, with increasingly rare and irregular rainfall. According to the UN, 75% of the country is at risk of desertification.
Source: DN
