Work to Axarquía desalination plant to start 'by the end of next year'

Deputy prime minister and minister of finance, María Jesús Montero, stated during a visit to Torre del Mar on the eastern Costa del Sol on Friday 13 March that the central government is working towards the aim of being able to start work to the future Axarquía desalination plant “by the end of next year”.

The project has been declared general national interest and will be built in Vélez-Málaga. Montero confirmed that the Ministry will “fully” fund the project, with a current investment of around 200 million euros, under the agreement signed with the state-owned water company Acuamed and the Axarquía's 'Junta Central de Usuarios', made up of local authorities and farmers.

"From project to reality, this is what we want to see as soon as possible,” Montero said, adding that the desalination plant is “essential and fundamental for the future” of agriculture and the Axarquía's urban water supply. She pointed out that Pedro Sánchez’s government has decided to cover its cost “even though it is not a direct responsibility” of the State.

In her address to farmers and local authorities, the deputy PM explained that the agreement signed between the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Acuamed initially set aside around 170 million euros, but an addendum is currently being processed to increase the total investment to 200 million. “That is 200 million euros being contributed by the Spanish government towards this infrastructure,” Montero pointed out.

She went on to explain that the administrative process and in particular, the environmental impact assessment is slowing the project down at the moment: “It is important that we process all the documents as soon as possible, particularly the environmental assessment, which takes the longest and that Acuamed makes progress on drafting the project so that we can start the work as soon as possible,” she said.

In this context, she has set a target for work to begin “next year, or by the end of next year if that is not possible, immediately thereafter”, provided that procedures can be “streamlined”.

In earlier statements to the media, the minister claimed that the central government is “replacing” the Andalusian regional government by taking on a desalination plant which, in her view, should be led by the regional government, suggesting that Juanma Moreno’s government is “saving more than 200 million euros”.

Montero went on to say, "the Regional Government has contributed nothing, not even land that would allow us to build the desalination plant and speed up the start of the work. She pointed out that the State has invested “over 500 million” in water infrastructure in Andalucía – 750 million including European funds – and is preparing a 2.2 billion euro plan up to 2028.

The preliminary design for the Axarquía desalination plant envisages a facility in the Las Campiñuelas area of Vélez-Málaga, on land that has already been set aside and is in the process of being transferred, next to the A-7 motorway. The facility will provide an initial volume of 25 million cubic metres of desalinated water per year for irrigation and domestic supply, expandable to 50, in coordination with the reclaimed water network and connections to Malaga city.