It was on Monday, November 27, 2023, when a bucolic walk with binoculars in the hands of the vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera (PSOE), and the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juan Manuel Moreno (PP), staged the end to almost two years of political bickering in Doñana. A law promoted by PP and Vox in the Andalusian Parliament, which was presented twice (in 2022 and 2023), opened the thunderstorm by regularizing hundreds of hectares with greenhouses that illegally extract water from the dying aquifer that feeds the national park. That walk, seasoned with two kisses and complicity, began a peace that has allowed substantial progress, but not with the speed required by the critical situation of the area.
That pact put 1,400 million euros on the table in theory in equal parts, although at the moment of truth the Andalusian Government did not include any new project in its account and in fact counts as investment even the CAP aid that arrives from Brussels. . But the most important thing is that it removed Doñana from the political clash, with a climate of understanding between the two administrations that provided the minimum necessary to rescue a natural space on the brink of collapse. In fact, there are those who view Ribera’s departure to Europe with some suspicion, since she dealt with it in a very personal way and has been very involved in this entire process.
All actors agree that the situation is much better a year later, although at a desperate pace due to the complexity of some measures and the time required by administrative processes. This contrasts with the situation of a place with its animal populations at historic lows and that is experiencing authentic agony, which is reflected in details such as the sinking of the goose, its most emblematic bird, or that in practice there are no longer permanent lagoons. in contrast to the established presence of illegal irrigation. For this reason, assessments of how the pact is going oscillate between the optimism of the administrations and the resigned prudence of environmental organizations, through the increasingly undisguised suspicion of farmers.
Government and Board Satisfaction
“We can be very satisfied,” says Emilio Rodríguez, director of the Doñana Technical Office (dependent on the central government), who speaks of a “historic agreement” that has all administrations “correctly aligned to the context of climate change and in line with the Nature Restoration Law of the European Union.” Incidentally, he declares himself “very satisfied with the degree of execution of the Framework of Actions for Doñana” of the Ministry, which has already invested 180 million euros in the environmental line (which was activated two years ago) and has committed 118 million in aid. direct in the socioeconomic branch.
Rodríguez also highlights the contrast with the situation a year ago, when “a legislative framework was being proposed that expanded irrigation in Doñana, which increased water pressure on the aquifers.” On the other hand, water works, renaturalization and investments are now being carried out in citizens, municipalities, farmers, ranchers and economic activity “for sustainable development in the Doñana environment.”
For her part, the Andalusian Minister of the Environment, Catalina García, emphasizes that it has been possible to “make significant progress in many of the established lines, even managing to exceed the objectives set for this first year.” This has been possible thanks to “close” work with the central government and measures such as the acquisition by the Government of Andalusia of the Veta la Palma farm, of 7,600 hectares, “a strategic investment of almost 74 million euros.”
“What we have achieved so far shows that, when administrations and sectors involved row in the same direction, progress is more effective and sustainable,” he maintains. For García, the pact “advances with decisive steps in concrete measures”, something in which farmers play a “fundamental role”, “who have demonstrated a proactive attitude”.
The nervousness of the irrigators
Apart from environmental actions, in the socioeconomic chapter the central Executive has already allocated 70 million euros for projects of the surrounding municipalities (the payment orders for the first 35 million have already been approved, the remaining 35 will arrive in 2025). The call for aid for good practices (39.5 million euros) will be published before the end of the year, and we must also add the eight million in subsidies from the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) to self-consumption and electric mobility, energy rehabilitation of buildings and energy efficiency in agriculture.
And what about the most controversial and expected aid, the ones that farmers will receive for stopping farming and renaturalizing the land? Well, they are slow and right now the aspiration is that the rules that will regulate them are published in 2024, which means that the call will not be made until well into 2025. We are initially talking about 28 million euros, an item that has increased over time. the foresight of those who want to apply for them will skyrocket.
The problem is that this delay is starting to make more than one person nervous. “People are warm,” admits Manuel Mora, spokesperson for the Platform in Defense of County Irrigationthe driving force behind the PP and Vox bill. After a first warning in August that there could be mobilizations if this aid were not activated, now there are even voices calling for resurrecting this law, which has also not been formally repealed but rather the PP put it in a drawer.
A year with ups and downs
The irrigators demand their own negotiation table to deal directly with the Government and the Board regarding what concerns them, and have urged both administrations to meet in the second week of December. “We don’t know what the aid will be like and the fear is that very restrictive conditions will be put in place and many people will be left out,” says Mora, who outlines some of his demands: guarantees that anyone who has a fine that they have not yet paid can receive the money, reduce the years to collect the entire subsidy from ten to five, whether crops like rice can benefit or not…
The storm clouds coming from the farmers are not the first that have hit Doñana this year since the pact was signed, since for example only three weeks later it was learned that it was excluded from the prestigious Green List. Subsequently, there were clashes between the 14 municipalities that will receive funds – Almonte and Hinojos insist that they should receive more – but the closest the fracture came was in mid-February following the Andalusian Administrative Simplification Law, which included a paragraph that once again opened the door to the regularization of irrigation. Finally, the Moreno Executive backed down and deleted the controversial article.
So the pact has survived its first year of life, although at an insufficient pace as demonstrated by the latest technical report on the state of the aquifer, which endorses “the global collapse of the entire Doñana system,” laments Juanjo Carmona, representative of WWF in the park’s Participation Council. A body, by the way, that meets this Monday, November 25, which will mark the debut of its newly appointed president, Enrique Mateos, replacement for Miguel Delibes who said goodbye last July.
“In environmental measures we are going very slowly, although in other issues we are going a little faster,” says Carmona. The aid that has farmers on tenterhooks, for example, “has required a very complex legal study,” and in parallel there has been some good news such as the formalization of the purchase by the Junta de Veta la Palma in the province of Seville, “which is interesting but does not solve the real problem.”
The moles of Matalascañas and the Guadiamar
To do this, he maintains, we must continue to seal illegal extractions, although he is especially critical of the fact that the transfer between Moguer and Matalascañas has not been accelerated in order to close the wells from which this large urbanization drinks, which draw directly from the aquifer and For now what is going to be done is change their location. “The transfer could have already been undertaken because it is a work that has been declared an emergency, but there is no political will,” while the Ministry for the Ecological Transition guarantees that it will end up being done, but that first we must end the leaks of up to 40% in the Matalascañas distribution network.
On the other hand, from Ecologistas en Acción its representative in Doñana, Juan Romero, emphasizes his disappointment with the recovery of the Guadiamar River so that it can once again be an important contribution of water to the marsh. “The declaration of intentions is not very ambitious, in the end what is going to be done is to create a channel because priority is given to not damaging the economic fabric,” he criticizes, an operation that he considers “insufficient” simply and simply “because there is no money for the purchase of land” given the high prices that the owners are asking.
“They are complex measures, but we are very late in the situation of water collapse in Doñana,” he warns, and in this sense, Teresa Ribera’s departure to Brussels is perceived with a certain fear but at the same time he considers that it could be a boost. After the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which condemned Spain for not protecting the natural enclave from the plundering of water, one of the keys to the recovery plan was to renaturalize the environment as intended with the Guadiamar, and in this Sense trusts that Ribera will push from his new position because “Europe is the only hope to do well.”
There is much left to do
From SEO-Birdlife in Doñana, Carlos Davila highlights that the pact is “very positive” because it has allowed a union of administrations with which to “take advantage of the last opportunity for this space.” The agreement also removed from the “political fight” a park that “has a very bad aquifer and contaminated surface waters,” which requires a quick reaction because otherwise “Doñana will not exist.” What is the problem? Well, “the administrative processes are slower than the Doñana processes, we need more speed because this is urgent.”
“Although the progress has been significant, we are aware that there is still much to do,” admits the Andalusian Minister of the Environment, Catalina García. Here it points to the necessary boost to areas such as the digitalization of administrative procedures, “essential to streamline the management of initiatives,” and the strengthening of technical and human resources. Incidentally, he trusts that with the new Minister for the Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, “dialogue and cooperation between administrations will continue to be fundamental pillars for the future of Doñana.”
“We know that this investment and restoration effort will not be enough,” acknowledges Emilio Rodríguez, director of the Doñana Technical Office. “All Andalusian citizens can feel very satisfied and proud of this agreement for Doñana,” he points out, but at the same time warns that the current efforts “must extend beyond the actions proposed today for permanent action in favor of Doñana for decades.” and decades.”
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