Spain has experienced heat waves this summer and autumn, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees. According to the Spanish Meteorological Service, especially May, July and October were “extremely hot”, the average temperature in Spain never exceeded 15.5 degrees. The exceptionally dry and hot year led to nearly 4,750 more deaths in Spain. The numerous forest fires have reduced 300,000 hectares of land to ashes.
The heavy rain of recent times offers some relief, but it is also a drop in the ocean. The Spanish government, regional authorities and environmental authorities will have to join forces and come up with a common plan to ensure that Spain does not dry out.
Protest
And it is precisely this that causes disagreements in the country, as emerged today during a protest in the capital Madrid. Several thousand farmers and politicians with dozens of tractors and trucks gathered in front of the Ministry of Ecological Transition. The immediate reason for the protest is a plan by the socialist government to increase the amount of water flowing through the Tagus River, while reducing the amount of water flowing through the Segura River. Much to the anger of the region around Alicante, Murcia and Almería, considered the vegetable garden of Europe.
Opponents say the plan will drop the water level in the Segura River by 40%, sparking a “war over water” between the regions of Valencia, Murcia and parts of Andalusia and Castilla-La Mancha. An earlier study by the University of Alicante has shown that rising water levels in the Tagus would mean the loss of more than 27,000 hectares of land, resulting in the loss of more than 15,000 jobs.
Emotional
“We ask that all Spaniards have access to water under the same conditions,” said one of the politicians present. According to Teresa Ribera, Minister of Ecological Transition, the protests are “more emotional than rational”. However, local branches of his own party, the PSOE, are now also threatening to turn against the plan.