An unprecedented process of open dialogue between the Junta de Andalucía and the state government marks the path that can lead to an agreement that will result in the protection of the Doñana, now in a critical situation due to the overexploitation of groundwater and a tremendous drought. The practical result is that the PP-A has decided to postpone its bill that it had designed to legitimize illegal irrigation in the area of Doñana and that could involve the regularization of some 1,900 hectares (by granting titles of irrigable agricultural land to lands that had been left out of the so-called Strawberry Pact of 2004, classified today as rainfed or forest soils), according to WWF estimates.
In return, the Government has committed to investing 350 million euros in a socioeconomic development plan. The ("temporary") resignation of the Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno Bonilla, from his controversial parliamentary initiative after months of struggles and intense debate in pre-electoral periods gives way to a climate of unusual dialogue between socialists and popular ones. Hugo Morán, Secretary of State for the Environment of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, who has been behind the scenes of this pre-agreement, refers to all of this.
This process of dialogue with the Junta de Andalucía is new, where will it lead, what field remains to be covered?
I do a little history. At the moment, the so-called Framework of priority actions for Doñana is being implemented, which is basically aimed at complying with the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which condemns Spain because the 2015-2021 hydrological planning of the demarcation of the Guadalquivir did not incorporate the obligations aimed at recovering the environmental values of Doñana derived from the approval of the Doñana Forest Crown plan of 2014 (to eliminate illegal irrigation). The European Commission, upon verifying that the established commitments do not appear, presents the claim to the European Court of Justice, which issues its ruling in 2021. We include in the plan for the period 2022-2027 the restoration of the environmental values of Doñana with a specific tool, which is the framework for priority actions for Doñana, endowed with just over 350 million euros. And that is already in execution.
And in this process the parliamentary initiative appears in Andalusia to legitimize illegal irrigation...
That, and in which it is planned to increase the surfaces classified as irrigable. This causes the European Commission and UNESCO to warn that this initiative goes against the execution of the sentence and against the preservation of the values of Doñana. Although the action proposed by the Board does not directly affect the area of the Doñana National Park, if carried out it causes greater pressure on the water resources of Doñana.
What ingredients does this new plan incorporate?
We call this new framework of actions for the sustainable territorial development of the area of influence of the Doñana National Park. That is the name we have given it.
But there is already a plan in motion...
Yes. The General Administration of the State executes a plan with an investment estimated at 350 million, but they are actions basically focused on the management of the water cycle and the biological conditions of Doñana and its surroundings. They are investments such as the recovery of some of the water courses that were interrupted at the time, such as the Caño del Guadiamar or the Brazo de la Torre, the elimination of underground water extractions that have a concession, replacing them with the contribution of surface waters to avoid continue putting pressure on the aquifer and a special action plan for the closure of illegal extractions that are controlled. The objective was to eliminate some 1,600 wells, including legal and illegal ones; in the case of legal ones, replacing groundwater with surface water from the transfer (from Tinto-Odiel-Piedras); and in the cases of illegal wells, simply closing them.
And how is the new plan outlined?
What is emerging now is that if the territory demands that economic territorial development activities be enabled that are compatible with the preservation of Doñana, we assume the idea of promoting a plan that allows us to accompany these new economic activities or modernize existing ones or adapt them. . And thus emerges this sustainable development framework that is provided with another 350 million
Is it another 350 million, additional to what already exists?
That's right, another 350 million. The figures match. And in the case of this second plan, it is logically for territorial development and goes beyond the National Park.
How has this pact been created...?
It has been the result of many conversations. We should go back to 2021, when the Court of the European Union handed down its ruling and then what has happened throughout this process.
And why does the Board take this Copernican turn and decide to postpone its bill? Maybe because there is no longer an electoral context or you believe that your initiative does not lead you anywhere?
Man, no one can ignore what international appeals entail. UNESCO in its last meeting was very exhaustive in its warning. It is aware that what is appearing in the media goes in exactly the opposite direction of what the preservation of a territory that has the qualification of World Heritage Site entails, which is why it urges in this case the Government of Spain to to send a complete situation report.
The pressure has been intense
UNESCO has moved its teams to the territory and evidently no one can be oblivious or immune to these warnings. The European Commission itself stated that this parliamentary initiative goes in the exact opposite direction of what the infringement file implies. Let us not forget that this European infringement file is still open. What it is about is precisely to correct these deficiencies so that the file ends up being archived once all these situations have been corrected.
Has the Ministry calculated how many hectares the Board wanted to legitimize with the PP-A and Vox proposal?
No. The Board has presented different figures but since they do not appear in the text of the bill it is practically impossible to know.
Returning to the 350 million of the new sustainable development plan. Will everything be provided by the central Administration or also by the Board?
No. It is from the central Administration. It is the contribution to the different lines of possible socioeconomic actions in the territory. It remains to be identified, but there is obviously agriculture and livestock, but there is also tourism, there may be industry or actions in education; These are matters that concern not only this ministry, but also different ministries, but the entire contribution is from the Government.
For farmers without a concession, this bill contributed to instilling in them the idea that they deserve historic rights over water in the future. How can you convince them of the new plan?
This has to be a task of shared effort by all administrations. We cannot think that this can prosper in a scenario of confrontation between administrations. It would be impossible. What it is about in the first place is finding a space of agreement between the administrations to effectively transfer to the territory an exciting proposal, which involves providing resources, but above all to prevent the territory from falling into a kind of exclusively dependent monoculture project of the territory's natural resources.
There's no water...
In a scenario of resource depletion like the one that Doñana is already suffering as a result of anthropogenic pressures, at a time when all of this is aggravated by the impact of climate change, and given that resources are progressively decreasing, we cannot be thinking about increasing pressure on a monoculture activity when water resources are decreasing.
Are you looking for an alternative development?
What it is about is giving certainty to the territory that there are possibilities of generating economic activity and employment without being conditioned and subject to a dynamic impact of climate change in the province. That is the effort that must continue and define what is going to be invested. We have put an investment ceiling on the table, but that ceiling will be reached or not depending on whether the territory itself generates investment projects.
And has the Board committed to contributing something?
The president has commented that the commitments assumed by the Board in the Doñana Forest Crown plan, which was approved in 2014, are late. The president of the community has recognized this in statements made public; He has pledged to accelerate his pace of execution.
The Board says it is postponing the bill. Do you think this decision is reversible? But can he back out?
We are going to try to be constructive thinking about the future. At the moment in which a framework of trust is opened and this project is given its nature, with the purpose of carrying it out jointly and transferring a commitment to execution to the territory, I hope that this initiative goes ahead. We have set ourselves a month's deadline to be able to have a solid starting document to be able to start thinking about calls for financing lines for projects and so on. That is the calendar that is marked.
Is this plan intended to convert current farmers in the Doñana area towards activities more compatible with the protection of the natural environment?
Keep in mind that what the Board proposed was to expand the irrigable surfaces. And it is not about those who are already producing, who are there, who have their resources assigned, and who have the support of legal security, but rather, given that we have reached the limit of the growth capacity of the irrigation sector, Now other avenues must be explored and these avenues must be opened not only to farmers but to all citizens. There will be young people and not so young people who do not own land and who therefore are not in the dynamic of seeking their future there, who have the right to have a job offer in the territory and that is what must be explored.
In other words, not one more hectare of irrigated land...
That is the philosophy but not because it is a political decision, no. The data is stubborn. There cannot be one more hectare of irrigated land simply because there is no more water. Let us keep in mind that at this time the recovery of a certain hydrological stability for Doñana is achieved through the contribution of external resources, which come through a transfer. And a national park has its value to the extent that its endogenous values give it those characteristics.
Is there a possibility that the community file will be closed or are we going ahead with too many screens?
We have three objectives: one, aimed at UNESCO clearing the way so that the classification as a World Heritage Site is consolidated and not questioned; two, that we comply with the ruling of the Court of Justice and that the European Commission definitively closes the file. But thirdly, we have held conversations with farmers and producers and we see that their greatest concern is the deterioration of the Doñana brand.
So?
And we must give stability to that brand to avoid risks in the distribution and marketing channels. We must give stability to a sector of the country that is very important and whose sustainability in the form of production is currently being questioned, that is, it is also about giving certainty to strawberry producers so that they do not see their livelihood at risk. future.
