The irrigators will demand today in Madrid the dismissal of the minister Teresa Ribera

The irrigators and the members of the Water Tables of the Region of Murcia, Alicante and Almería are convinced that this Wednesday their forecasts will be exceeded and that there will be a massive response from the Levante agri-food sector against the intention of the Ministry to cut the Transfer Tagus-Segura. More than a hundred buses will leave for Madrid at dawn, together with an unknown number of private vehicles, for what may be the largest protest in defense of the aqueduct carried out in the capital of Spain. The rejection of the transfer cut goes hand in hand with the sector’s opposition to the increase in desalinated water and its cost, which it does not consider an alternative.

The president of the transfer irrigators, Lucas Jiménez, has released a statement urging participation. «Tomorrow, the Region of Murcia, Alicante and Almería have an unavoidable appointment before the doors of the ministry of Teresa Ribera, a minister who has been characterized by political issues in everything that has to do with water management, and with the management of the best agriculture in Europe, which is that of the Spanish Levante”, he indicated.

«We are going to Madrid to vindicate ourselves as civil society and as farmers, and to ask that this lady cease her unjustified and political attacks on the infrastructure of the Tajo-Segura Aqueduct and on a fundamental resource for the economic activity of our regions. We hope that the influx of the agricultural sector and civil society and its representatives will be massive at the doors of this lady’s office, which makes water just another policy that unfortunately leads in this case to unemployment and economic situations that are impossible to maintain. We are going to tell her to stop, or ask her boss to stop her ».

The countdown has begun for the Council of Ministers to approve the basin plans, with the gradual increase in the ecological flows of the Tagus, which will imply a cut in the Transfer by about 105 hectometres per year in the next five years (with a decrease of 40% in the case of irrigation), the conveners of the mobilization hope to gather several thousand people in front of the office of Vice President Teresa Ribera, who has indicated that she does not intend to give in. On Monday she commented that these tensions over hydrological plans are more emotional than rational. At this time, the previous opinions of the Council of State and various ministries are missing.

Ximo Puig earrings

It is not ruled out that the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Ximo Puig, joins the rally at the last minute in front of the headquarters of the Ministry for Ecological Transition. Puig is in Frankfurt, where he had a previous engagement, although he may be considering attending, other sources said. Puig declared this morning from Brussels that the National Water Council should be reconvened if the allegations presented to the State Council on the hydrological plan that includes the regulation of the Tagus-Segura transfer are not taken into account.

In any case, he has reiterated that he does not want to confront the water and that the irrigators of Almería, Murcia and Alicante have the right to demonstrate this Wednesday before the Ministry for Ecological Transition: «The claim is fine, but it must be accompanied by willingness to agree,” reports EP.

The concentration will be attended by President Fernando López Miras and councilors from the three autonomous communities that receive water from the Tagus. The president of the Regional Assembly, Alberto Castillo, will also attend to show his support for the primary sector and agriculture. “I think we must be there, my duty and obligation is to be present since all the political parties will be there and my place tomorrow is to be in Madrid to show my rejection of the inadmissible cut in the waters of the Tagus al Segura,” he assured. . There will also be a representation of the regional PSOE and socialist mayors, including Diego José Mateos and Mari Carmen Moreno, councilors of Lorca and Águilas. The government delegate and PSRM general secretary, José Vélez, will not attend, as he announced on Saturday. The organizers consider that Vélez “will make an important mistake if he does not attend the concentration.”

Participation of national leaders of Vox

The president of Vox in Murcia, José Ángel Antelo, has confirmed that national leaders of his party will attend this Wednesday the concentration called in defense of the Transfer. “Tomorrow we will be supporting our field, our irrigators again,” Antelo said at a press conference, who has summoned them to wait until the call to find out if the top leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, will participate in it.

Antelo has charged against PSOE and PP, about which he has said that “they have been deceiving people for many years, many years behind a banner that said ‘Water for all’ that really remained a deception for all.” «We are shocked to see the Socialist Party demonstrate against the Socialist Party and also to see the Popular Party demonstrate against the Popular Party of other regions and its national leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who says exactly the same as Hugo Morán regarding the transfer of the times they have asked him”, he concluded.

“The atmosphere is very hot”

“The atmosphere is very heated and we believe that there will be a very important response,” said the president of the Irrigation Union, Lucas Jiménez, on Tuesday morning, noting that the number of adhesions is increasing as the hours go by. He highlights the fact that they had to organize the protest with a few days to spare and with the Christmas holidays in between.

The regional president of COAG-IR, José Miguel Marín, highlights that “there is a very important move” in the Region of Murcia, Alicante and Almería to participate in the concentration. “We perceive a great mobilization because people are very concerned. This concern is growing due to the repercussions of the increase in ecological flows, which will be decisive, and also due to the high price of desalinated water. The news of the last few days about the high rate of this resource is including a lot in the sector.

Support from the Association of Directors

The Association of Managers of the Region of Murcia (Adimur) joined the demands of the irrigators and businessmen who will meet on Wednesday in Madrid on Tuesday morning. Its president, Antonio López, defended the position of the Central Union of Irrigators of the Tajo-Segura Aqueduct (Scrats), demanding respect for the agreements adopted in the National Water Council. He stresses that the Murcian managers join the defense of the transfer “which is so necessary for so many productive sectors of the Region of Murcia and on which many jobs and many essential goods of our society depend, not only for Murcians, but for much of Spain and Europe.

Adimur considers that agriculture and the agri-food industry “constitute a fundamental pillar of the regional economy. In Murcia we cannot afford the lack of water, something that would jeopardize employment, production, our environment and exports”. «As Murcian managers and representatives of different business sectors, we fully understand the importance of joining efforts and fighting for a common good. Our role is to promote the development of our organizations and that of our region. That is why now it is time to defend the arrival of water through the Transfer, because water is essential for the countryside, for our region and for all Murcians” concludes López.

The national fruit and vegetable employers join

The president of the producers and exporters integrated in Proexport, Mariano Zapata, has announced that he will lead “the wide presence” of companies, cooperatives and associated fruit and vegetable markets. He considers that the cut in the Transfer “will forever curtail the development of agriculture, the economy and employment in the three provinces and it is so serious that the producing and exporting sector has decided to completely stop its activity to be en masse in Madrid.

The national employers’ association of the sector, the Spanish Federation of Associations of Exporting Producers of Fruits and Vegetables (FEPEX), has also joined the concentration. For Proexport, the Transfer has been and is the most important, efficient and sustainable water infrastructure for agricultural development in the Southeast of Spain”. Proexport associates sell 1.5 million tons, export to 62 countries and directly employ more than 28,000 workers.

Zapata maintains that “to date there is no proposed alternative solution to this decrease in volumes of water available in the Tajo-Segura Transfer. In addition, exclusively desalinated water, called to be another ordinary resource, is not available in sufficient quantity, has disproportionate environmental costs to obtain it (its energy dependence is 4 times greater than that of transferred water), and prohibitive prices subject to extremely high volatility, due to fluctuating energy costs. The water deficit in the Segura District, far from being reduced, will increase with this approach and will worsen when, starting in 2027, groundwater extraction is limited. There is no doubt, it will be the modern and sustainable agriculture of the Spanish Southeast that will pay the piper for this ideological water policy». He adds that the problem “transcends the agricultural sector itself, since the cut to the Transfer puts the future social and economic development of Murcia, Alicante and Almería in check.”