Water management brings the election campaign to a boil in Spain

Spain, with increasingly scarce water resources and greater irrigation needs, faces an “unsustainable situation”, sums up Felipe Fuentesaz, of the Spanish branch of the World Nature Fund (WWF).

This emblematic reserve in Andalusia (south), which with its dunes and shallow lagoons once housed huge colonies of birds that migrated from Europe to Africa, now rare, is “in critical condition”, regrets Fuentesaz.

According to the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), 59% of the lakes in this region classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO are dry, and the problem may fester until it becomes irreparable.

In this context, the Popular Party (PP, right), ruling in Andalusia, introduced a bill at the beginning of March, with the support of the far right, aimed at legalizing the illegal cultivation of the red fruit in the vicinity of the garden.

For the WWF, this could mean legalizing 1,500 hectares of crops, mostly irrigated by secret wells, in the province of Huelva, which produces the bulk of Spain’s strawberries.

vs “A Fistful of Votes”

The project responds to a “legal request” of farmers to “compensate the damage,” says Manuel Andrés González, deputy of the People’s Party of Huelva.

In 2014, the region, then ruled by the Socialists, organized 9,000 hectares to arrange strawberry cultivation, after years of chaotic prosperity, but “hundreds of growers were excluded from the plan,” says Gonzalez.

An argument rejected by Rocío del Mar Castellano, the leftist mayor of Almonte, a town in the heart of Doñana.

He criticizes, saying, “There is almost no water left. How will we expand the irrigated area? The People’s Party sells smoke to get a handful of votes.”

As municipal and regional elections approached on May 28, which were presented as a precursor to some of the hard-fought generals at the end of the year, the issue caused an exchange of words between the head of government, socialist Pedro Sánchez, and the leader of the People’s Party, Alberto Núñez Viejo.

Sanchez called “Donana untouched, it is the heritage of all Spaniards”, denouncing the “climate denial” of the right.

A letter sent by Brussels, in which he warned Spain to impose sanctions for the deteriorating condition of Doñana.

Núñez Viejo, who accused the head of government of stirring up controversy to hide his inaction on water management, replied that this “environmental gem does not belong to Pedro Sánchez”.

He promised that if the right wins the elections at the end of the year, he will bring “water where there is none”.

“Facing the truth”

Without giving up on his project, PP said he’s open to retouching it.

“Sanchez attacks us for electoral purposes,” says Manuel Andrés González, claiming that “not all ‘Socialist deputies’ are against the text.”

For Pablo Simón, professor of political science at the University of Carlos III in Madrid, it is fitting that Pedro Sánchez influences the environmental issue because it “returns him to the axis that suits him, a right-left axis, an axis that has more to gain than to lose.”

But for environmentalists, it responds equally well to consciousness.

“Climate change is becoming more visible,” says Julia Martinez, artistic director of the New Water Culture Foundation, and “our country’s water policy has shown its limits.”

Faced with a historic drought suffocating the country, the government last week announced 1.4 billion euros to build infrastructure to desalinate seawater or reuse wastewater for irrigation.

In fact, farmers and major exporters of fruits and vegetables use 80% of Spain’s fresh water resources.

“Some do not want to face reality, but we cannot continue to be the garden of Europe, this journey forward is irresponsible,” says Julia Martinez, who advocates a drastic reduction in irrigated areas to avoid “hydrological collapse”.

Danger lurks in Doñana.

“We have to listen to the scientists,” says Rocío del Mar Castellano, not “play with fire.” “Growing strawberries is important,” he concludes, “but if there’s no more water here, there won’t be any more strawberries.”