That the European Union Solidarity Fund be activated in response to the “natural catastrophe” that constitutes the extreme drought that Andalusia is suffering. This is the request that the president of the Board, Juanma Moreno, made on the first day of his trip to Brussels to Marcos Sefcovic, executive vice president of the European Commission (EC), where he explained that this climate emergency has meant in 2023 a decrease of 2.1% of the regional GDP, a problem that will worsen even more this year and that represents a significant setback for the main productive sectors in the area.
In his efforts, and taking into account the requirements that a country must meet to request this line of aid (among which is having suffered a natural disaster whose direct damages have been greater than 1.5% of the regional GDP), the head of San Telmo has delivered a report, 'Drought, a natural catastrophe in Andalusia', to the Commissioner of the European Green Deal, Interinstitutional Relations and Prospective, which explains how the reservoirs are located and how the lack of water is affecting the sectors. productive sectors and the economy, as well as the need to carry out hydraulic works to alleviate the effects of the drought that could be undertaken with the help of the EU.
The request for the activation of these extraordinary funds from the European Union must be processed by the national Executive, which is why Moreno has announced that he will contact Teresa Ribera, third vice president of the Government and minister for the Ecological Transition so that she can raise his request to Brussels.
"We ask the Government of Spain to promote the possibility of this fund so that these resources reach the autonomous communities that right now have a problem with drought," he said, noting that it does not occur to him "that The national Executive does not activate all the procedures that the EU allows so that the autonomous communities with water problems have more resources to undertake hydraulic works.
"This drought - which our land has been suffering for five years - is already causing a loss of 2.1% of the Gross Domestic Product of Andalusia, which represents a loss of wealth, employment and progress, and we need collaboration and support from the European Union," said the president, who has insisted on demanding that the EU recognize the climatic uniqueness of this community. "The battle of water awareness in Europe is being led by Andalusia and I believe we are going to win it," he indicated.
The report that the president delivered to Commissioner Maros Sefcovic states that the lack of water had a cost equivalent to 2.1% of the Andalusian GDP in 2023, that is, 4,270.20 million euros, while in 2024, the The cost will be 4,525.45 million, out of an estimated total GDP of 215,498 million. Added to this is the reduction in the surplus of the external food trade balance, which has decreased by 15.1%.
It is stated that the drought is fully affecting the Andalusian economy, with very negative consequences in key sectors such as the agri-food industry, which accounts for 25% of the Andalusian productive fabric.
Estimates prepared from agricultural production indicators from the Institute of Statistics and Cartography of Andalusia (IECA) warn that in 2023 Andalusian agricultural production fell by 13% compared to 2% for Spain as a whole. Likewise, the agri-food industry fell by 13%, and vegetable production suffered a decline of 7% (non-citrus fruit trees, 9.6%, and cereals, 35.2%).
Likewise, the report indicates that the Active Population Survey reveals that the number of employed people decreased by almost 10% (9.4%) in the agricultural sector and 4.5% in the food industry, while the data managed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy warn that the number of agricultural companies registered with Social Security has decreased by 3% and that food exporting companies have fallen by 4%, according to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.
Likewise, it is pointed out that drought is not only an economic problem, but it is also a social problem that affects many families, their well-being, and that limits the development of their daily lives, since we are faced with a drought that It has been classified as the worst of the millennium and in which 3.5 million inhabitants live in municipalities in an emergency situation and almost half a million people do not have drinking water or are suffering supply cuts.
Currently, more than one hundred municipalities in Andalusia suffer supply incidents. Specifically, the residents of 27 of them do not have drinking water and more than twenty localities suffer daily nighttime water cuts.
