Francisco Salado sets water as the great challenge of his new term as head of Malaga's provincial authority

Francisco Salado has set the issues of water and drought as his main priorities in his new term as head of the Diputación de Málaga provincial authority.

The re-elected president has announced that the body will invest 50 million euros annually - 200 million in total until 2027 - to solve the province’s water shortages.

In his speech, Salado said that the lack of water is Malaga's "most urgent" problem. "The severe drought we have been suffering in recent years has exposed all our structural shortcomings in terms of water and what we can and must do to solve them,” he said.

“We must make the most of every drop of water available and turn Malaga into a benchmark province in Spain for efficient and integrated water management. There is no greater priority, and not only because of the current drought, but also because of the challenges posed by climate change and global warming," he added.

First measure

The first step, according to Salado, will be to commission a study for the implementation of tertiary treatment and the consequent use for agricultural irrigation of recycled water from the 47 treatment plants managed by the provincial water consortium, where 10 cubic hectometres are treated annually. With tertiary treatment, this amount of water could be used to irrigate 2,000 hectares of woody crops and would save enough water in the reservoirs and wells to supply a population of 130,000 people per year.

Salado said that although Malaga was not chosen to host Expo 2027 - where the city competed under the slogan, The urban era: towards the sustainable city - the objectives remain valid.

Mobility

Salado said that work must be done on "more efficient" mobility with public transport systems that reduce traffic on roads.

"We cannot accept that the Costa del Sol does not have a strong public transport system, we cannot accept that the train does not reach Marbella, Estepona... nor the eastern Costa del Sol, the Axarquia region. And it makes no sense not to have a robust local train service, with a wide coverage area between Antequera and Malaga,” he said, while adding that connection to smaller inland towns must not be abandoned: "We must combat their isolation and also the serious problem they suffer from a lack of parking".

These statements were made during a session where the newly elected Malaga authority was sworn in. Salado called for a stop to the "sterile political polarisation" and not to add fuel to the fire of tension and division.

"Let us not dedicate ourselves to digging trenches, but to building bridges. The purpose of this authority is to unite. To bring areas, towns and groups closer together. To bring together services and develop actions and initiatives that local councils, on their own, would not be able to undertake," he said.