New protests around the Tajo-Segura river

[mostakimvip04]

For ASAJA Murcia, the announcement by Castilla La Mancha can be described as "abusive and inconsistent," according to its general secretary, Alfonso Gálvez Caravaca. The amount of water they intend to allocate far exceeds the capacity of the Buendía and Entrepeñas reservoirs, thus representing "an intolerable abuse and an unacceptable mockery" against farmers in the Regions of Murcia, Almería, and Alicante. Consequently, the agricultural organization warns that all necessary pressure measures will be taken if the proposals that threaten the Tajo-Segura Transfer are not withdrawn.



Given this situation, ASAJA Murcia believes that "the graphic design services concept of prior constitutional review should be reinstated to prevent statutory reforms, such as those in Castilla La Mancha, from encroaching on the State's own powers, as is the case with water," according to its director, Alfonso Gálvez Caravaca.



In this regard, he also wanted to emphasize the fact that "in the reform of the Statute of Castilla-La Mancha, the electoral interests of each of the political parties take precedence over the legal logic contemplated by the constitutional framework."



This legal text, currently being negotiated in the Congress of Deputies, seeks to include a reserve of 4,000 cubic hectometers of water for this community, an amount that would prevent the transfer of water to the Segura River and would condemn the entire southeast of the peninsula to the penalty of thirst. Furthermore, it is completely contrary to reality, since the Entrepeñas and Buendía reservoirs, the only ones that supply the Tajo-Segura transfer, have a total capacity of 2,474 hm3.



The reservation is specified in the preamble to the basic institutional regulation of Castilla-La Mancha and therefore lacks regulatory force. However, although it does not constitute a binding law, it does embody the formal expression of a desire: to put an end to the Tajo-Segura water transfer, which has proven its efficiency and functionality for more than three decades. Its extinction would mean the death of a sector as strategic and important as agriculture in the Spanish Levant.



It's also illogical that they advocate increasing their reserves at a time when they have more water than ever. Furthermore, they have never consumed their current allocated reserve of approximately 240 hm3. These premises suggest they are solely pursuing economic interests. In this regard, it's worth noting that they have increased their rates by more than 240%, as we have gone from paying €0.09 per m3 transferred to €0.22/m3.



In short, ASAJA Murcia "demands the withdrawal of these measures, as they lack sufficient legal basis and pose a serious threat to the Murcian agricultural sector, which would see its farms disappear due to a lack of water to irrigate them," as stated by Gálvez Caravaca. Likewise, "we also demand that the central government comply with the current law on the Tajo-Segura Water Transfer and effectively exercise its exclusive powers over water matters."