Madrid, (EFE).- The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, the European Commission and environmental organizations have demanded that the Junta de Andalucía respect the rulings of the European courts on Doñana and that it rectify in its irrigation expansion plan, proposal currently being processed by the Andalusian parliament.
The measure, proposed by the Popular Party and by Vox, “contravenes European legislation”, Sánchez assured this Thursday during his visit to the Doñana Biological Reserve, which deals with study and research in the national park, where the president has urged the Junta to abandon “arrogant positions”.
“Doñana is a natural treasure that belongs to all of us. The denial of the extreme right and the arrogance of the PP are lethal for its future ”, Sánchez added from his Twitter account.
The European Commission has also reiterated in writing its opposition to the draft law in Andalusia on irrigation in Doñana, and has warned that Brussels has the obligation to guarantee with “all available means” that it is respected in Spain.
In the text -in response to a question from the socialist MEPs César Luena and Javi López in full controversy over the Andalusia irrigation expansion plan-, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginius Sinkevicius, has asserted that the measure could contravene environmental legislation community.
Sinkevicius recalled that the European Commission (EC) may act with “all available means under the Treaties to guarantee that the Kingdom of Spain effectively complies with the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU)” of June 2021 , which condemned this country for not adequately safeguarding the protected area of Doñana.
For her part, the third vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, has once again expressed her rejection of the PP and Vox plan in Doñana, which she has attributed to the “concern she may feel in a context electoral”.
“No matter where you look at it, any possible rational criterion is applied, it makes no sense” and the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, “knows that it is not viable”, argued Ribera, who has acknowledged feeling “particularly annoyed ”because a year ago Moreno “promised not to adopt this type of measure”, but to “work together” where they can “find solutions”.
“Science is clear and conclusive, the species and habitats of Doñana are dying due to the prolonged drought accentuated by the overexploitation of the aquifer caused by a totally irrational water management model”, Juan Carlos del Olmo has affirmed in parallel, Secretary General of WWF Spain.
This environmental organization has sent a new letter to the EC on Thursday to express its concern over the fact that the Junta de Andalucía, instead of complying with the CJEU ruling and implementing measures to reverse the situation in Doñana, “continues to Go ahead with your plan to expand the irrigated area and reward illegal farmers.”
“Common sense and community legislation tell us that there is no reason, no excuse, not to abandon that arrogant position and return to European legality,” Sánchez stressed in statements to the media from Doñana, who has insisted on listening to the warnings from the scientific community and the rulings and alerts from the European institutions.
The president recalled the “serious” situation that the park is going through due to the climate emergency that affects the entire country in the form of drought or an increase in “improper” temperatures for this time of year, as well as in the form of fires out of season.
Coinciding with Sánchez’s visit, the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has affirmed that “Doñana defends itself by executing infrastructures and not coming to visit Falcon”, and has asked the president of the Government “not to tamper with” a national park ” pride of Andalusia and Spain”, before criticizing the central government’s water management policy.