Pimec Girona warns that the drought directly impacts the daily lives of 1,500 companies in the province. They are SMEs from both the primary sector and industry, with more than 20,000 workers, whose activity is compromised by water restrictions.
The director of the Economics and Business Area of the employers' association, Carles Mas, says that if measures are not taken to alleviate it, this will inevitably result in layoffs that will affect economic growth.
Pimec expects that the slowdown will be noticeable especially in the second half of the year. On the other hand, the president of Pimec Girona, Pere Cornellà, criticized the Government's "lack of action" with the drought and sees the Lloret desalination plant as evidence of the "despair" of the private sector.
The Pimec Girona employers' association has analyzed the economic situation in the territory and the prospects for 2024, which are marked by the impact of the drought.
The director of the Economics and Business Area estimates, however, that the demarcation will close the year positively, with a lower growth than in 2023. Carles Mas places it close to 1%, below what is estimated for the average of Catalonia (which in this case, can reach 1.5%).
The director also emphasizes that in the province this year will be marked by two different rhythms. During the first half of the year the economy will grow; in part, due to "the tractor effect" of sectors such as commerce or tourism. But starting in June, this will turn around and we will enter a phase of stagnation or even decline.
For Carlos Mas, it will be then that the economy will notice the impacts of the drought, to which other "negative elements" can be added (such as consumer and business credit restrictions). In fact, the director of the Economics and Business Area emphasizes that the prelude to this situation is already being anticipated with the way in which water restrictions affect the business fabric.
Mas states that, at this time, there are already 1,500 SMEs in Girona that directly suffer the effects of the drought in their daily lives. They are mainly companies in the primary sector, but also agri-food, metallurgical, paper or chemical industries (at the moment, the employers' association here has not counted those in hospitality and services). Overall, its workforce totals more than 20,000 workers.
The director emphasizes that, if measures are not taken to alleviate this impact, the drought will inevitably end up leading to the destruction of jobs in these companies. "And since today consumption is what maintains economic growth, if unemployment rises, it will end up creating a snowball effect that will affect the rest of the sectors," says Carles Mas.
For this reason, Pimec proposes that subsidies be allocated to companies to invest in water efficiency systems and advance towards the water transition. And in parallel, measures are also planned for those who are forced to apply temporary ERTO or close temporarily due to the drought. "The important thing is that if the lack of rain forces us to reduce employment and reduce activity, once this is overcome, the affected companies will not have disappeared," insists Carles Mas.
Along with these measures to alleviate the economic impact of the drought, the president of Pimec Girona, Pere Cornellà, asks the administrations to do their homework. "For economic activity, it is very discouraging to see how all the procedures are so slow, and how it costs so much to activate those infrastructures that should be the basis for the activity of companies," says Cornellà.
