The Minister of Agriculture, Antonio Luengo, presented yesterday in the Governing Council an assessment of damage to crops caused by the storms last weekend, which affected different areas of Lorca and Cieza. The report indicates that the hail caused the total loss of various crops such as watermelon, melon, artichoke or broccoli, among others, and also affected citrus, olive trees and different species of fruit trees.
According to the evaluation carried out by the technicians of the regional agricultural offices, the affected area reaches 1,771 hectares, 656 in Lorca and 1,115 in Cieza. The loss of production is estimated at 21,764 tons; specifically, 20,414 in Lorca and 1,350 in Cieza. The economic damage is estimated at around eight million euros, seven of them in Lorca and more than one million in Cieza, pointed out the Government spokesman and Minister of the Presidency, Marcos Ortuño, who recalled that the Government has requested the Executive of Pedro Sánchez that those areas be declared zones seriously affected by a civil protection emergency, which was previously known as a catastrophic zone.
“We demand the Government of Spain to act to alleviate the losses in these crops with direct aid to the affected farmers, credits at 0% interest and reduction of the limitation modules,” said Ortuño. He added that “our farmers cannot wait any longer and, therefore, we demand that this declaration be approved immediately and that this aid arrive as soon as possible and that, where appropriate, it can be extended to other heavily affected areas such as the Altiplano.”
Institutional statement
The Lorca City Council agreed yesterday at a meeting of extraordinary spokespersons to make an institutional statement to show the support of the municipal corporation to those affected by the hail. The agreements adopted by the spokespersons of the political groups also include requesting the competent administrations, the Autonomous Community and the central Executive, to expedite all the procedures for the declaration of a catastrophic zone, said the mayor, Diego José Mateos.
Demands the central Executive to declare the area as catastrophic and direct aid for affected farmers
The board also decided to collaborate with the Coag organization in assisting victims, with municipal measures such as the opening in Marchena of a service and advice office for the processing of aid to compensate for crop losses, which will be attended by officials of the City Hall of Lorca. The office will initially open next Tuesday and Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the premises of the Marchena neighborhood association, which is located in the Infanta Leonor urbanization.
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