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Madrid.
Friday, 12 May 2023
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The Spanish government has promised to build more desalination plants to improve the country's access to water as part of a multi-billion-euro pledge to combat the nation's drought crisis.
After a special Cabinet meeting on Thursday this week, ministers agreed upon a package worth 2.2 billion euros to fight the effects of drought and the effects it was having on farming and the economy.
Of the total, about 1.4 billion euros will go towards increasing water availability, such as building new desalination plants or systems for reusing wastewater.
By 2027 the government wants to double the use of recycled water in Spain. which is currently at 10 per cent of all consumption.
The remainder (784 million euros) will be spent on a range of support for agriculture, with almost half going to help livestock and milk producers, the government announced after Thursday's meeting of ministers.
The package "is aimed at adopting urgent measures in agricultural and water matters and in response to the worsening conditions in the primary sector as a result of the war in Ukraine and the drought," government spokesperson Isabel Rodríguez told the media afterwards.
Pedro Sánchez's government made the announcements just hours before the start of the election campaign for the municipal and regional elections on 28 May.
The impact of the drought and the availability of water has been one of the main political issues in the lead up to the polls.
Spain suffered the driest first four months of the year since records began in 1961, with less than half the usual rainfall for the season. The country's reservoirs are also at very low levels, currently at 48.9% of their capacity.
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