The Spanish government has announced a series of measures aimed at countering a record-breaking drought which threatens to devastate crops and push food prices up.
A dry winter has been followed by the warmest April since records began in 1961, during which temperatures were on average 3 degrees higher than normal and there was only a fifth of the expected rainfall.
On Thursday, the left-wing coalition government approved by decree a package worth €2.2 billion, including €637 million in direct support for crop and livestock farmers affected by the conditions.
“It’s not enough to offer more water. We have to manage demand, encourage the efficient use of this resource and work on the quality of water,” said the minister for environmental transition, Teresa Ribera, who described the country’s droughts as “increasingly intense and serious”.
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This year about €300 million has been paid out in compensation to farmers who lost crops because of adverse weather, according to Agroseguro, the association representing farming insurers. That makes it the worst year for farming insurance on record, the organisation said.
The government’s package includes the financing of insurance for farmers, who will also be eligible for new tax breaks. In addition, areas heavily affected by shortages will receive investment in new infrastructure, such as desalination and water recycling plants.
Many areas have been restricting water use in recent months. In much of Catalonia, there has not been sustained rain for two-and-a-half years, causing the local government to reduce water use for farming by 40 per cent, while water used for industry has been cut by 15 per cent.
Farming, which makes up around 10 per cent of Spanish GDP, consumes 80 per cent of the country’s water resources.
The agriculture minister, Luis Planas, said the new package was aimed at helping to avert possible food shortages and price increases caused by the drought. He also said the government was part of the fight against global warming.
“Although, recently, some people deny the existence of climate change, the truth is that fighting against climate change and the increase in temperatures is not just good for the farming industry but also for people’s health,” he said.
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The exploitation of water has become a politically sensitive issue. The central government has clashed with the conservative regional administration in Andalucía, which plans to expand the licensing of water extraction for farming in land surrounding Doñana natural park. The European Commission has threatened sanctions if the southern region pushes ahead with its plan, which many fear will exacerbate the drought and threaten the park’s biodiversity.
As part of its latest measures, the government announced the creation of a new artificial water channel to ease the pressure on Doñana.
With temperatures exceeding 38 degrees last month in southern Spain, the government has also approved a new regulation prohibiting people from working outdoors during high temperature alerts issued by the meteorological office.
The opposition accused the government of using the water issue for political benefit, in advance of local elections on May 28th. The leader of the conservative Popular Party, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, said the prime minister had “ideological prejudices with the water issue, without using technology and with a lot of ideology”.
Mr Nunez Feijoo said the country needed a €40 billion investment in water policy over the next 10 years.
