The Spanish government has approved an unprecedented €2.2bn (£1.9bn) plan to help farmers and consumers deal with an enduring drought that has been exacerbated by the hottest and driest April on record.
Described as unprecedented by the government, the measures which were signed off by the cabinet on Thursday, include €1.4bn of funds from the environment ministry to tackle the drought and increase the availability of water, and €784m from the agriculture ministry to help farmers maintain production and avoid food shortages.
According to reports, the plan came a day after the Socialist-led coalition government announced legislation that will mean outdoor workers such as refuse collectors, street sweepers and builders will not have to work when the Spanish meteorological office issues high temperature alerts. The move follows the deaths of a street sweeper and a leaflet delivery man during last July’s heatwave in the Madrid region.
In her reaction, Spain’s environment minister, Teresa Ribera, said that her department would spend €1.4bn on building new infrastructure such as desalination plants; on doubling the proportion of water that is reused in urban areas from 10% to 20% by 2027; and on subsidising those whose irrigation water supplies would be reduced.
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She said: “Spain is a country that is used to periods of drought but there’s no doubt that, as a consequence of the climate change we’re experiencing, we’re seeing far more frequent and intense events and phenomena,”. “And we need to prepare for that by taking advantage of all the technical capacity that Spain has accrued and developed over many years. We need to deal with episodes such as the present one – and that requires planning, structural measures and also, obviously, short-term and immediate help plans.”
Ribera said that promising more water was not the answer, stressing that investments had to be made to manage demand and drive efficient use of the resource. The agriculture minister, Luis Planas also said that most of the €784m promised by his ministry would go on direct help to livestock and grain farmers, who would also receive tax breaks.
He said: “The main objective is to secure the productive continuity of our primary sector – of our crop and livestock farmers – so that they can produce food, which is a fundamental element when it comes to providing for our citizens, but which is also very important when it comes to food prices.”
While the government said it had approved the measures in response to the drought, high temperatures and the war in Ukraine, the opposition conservative People’s party (PP) accused it of trying to con voters as Spain prepares to vote in regional and municipal elections on 28 May.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
