Pedro Sánchez underlines the Government's firm commitment to guaranteeing water supply for all Spaniards and combating drought

Torrevieja (Alicante)

"This Government has been working and will continue to do so, with social and territorial commitment, to guarantee the supply of water for human consumption and for the irrigation of our countryside; with determination and without hiding behind excuses of competence", assured Pedro Sánchez, who has placed water policies as the "top priority" of the Executive to combat the drought.

Solidarity, planning and science

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, together with workers from the Acuamed desalination plant | Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo

The head of the Executive highlighted the Government's firm commitment to tackling the drought and securing the water supply based on three fundamental principles of action: "Solidarity, planning and science in the face of denialism to address one of the biggest challenges we have as a country, which is drought and mitigation and adaptation to the effects of climate change".

The head of the Executive stressed that drought is a common and global problem, which requires solidarity between regions. "We will collaborate with all those territories and administrations that ask for it, to guarantee water wherever it is necessary", Pedro Sánchez remarked.

At the same time, the President of the Government highlighted planning as a determining factor for the implementation of the hydrological plans, with the aim of doubling Spain's desalination and water reuse capacity.

Science is another key principle underpinning the government's action on drought. Spain leads Europe in desalinated water production and is the fourth country in the world in terms of installed capacity, with a daily production of around 5 million cubic metres. "The data show that we are committed to innovation and efficiency in order to intelligently manage a scarce and valuable resource such as water," said the head of the Executive.

The Government's investment effort in water

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, during his visit to the Acuamed desalination plant | Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo

The Third Cycle Hydrological Plans foresee investment of 23 billion euros up to 2027 to deal with drought scenarios, through 6,600 actions that provide for the mobilisation of 5 billion euros to modernise up to 700,000 hectares of agricultural land and thus benefit nearly 20,000 farmers.

Specifically, the desalination infrastructures of Alicante, Murcia and Almeria anticipate investments of 813 million euros within these third cycle hydrological plans.

This investment effort, added to the 2.2 billion invested since 2018, is evidence of the government's fight against the climate emergency. "Denialist discourses irresponsibly deny the consequences of climate change, contrary to science and to the interests of the population in general and of farmers and livestock breeders in particular", the head of the Executive stressed.

Expansion of Torrevieja desalination plant

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, together with workers from the Acuamed desalination plant | Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo

The expansion of Acuamed's desalination plant in Torrevieja, recently approved by the Council of Ministers will increase its desalinated water production capacity by 50%, up to 120 cubic hectometres per year, compared to the current 80.

The implementation of this desalination plant, the largest in Europe, will pave the way for the improvement of the aquifers in the affected irrigation areas by allowing the substitution of water resources. In addition, the implementation of a photovoltaic park will make its facilities more sustainable and will reduce the price of desalinated water by around 4 cents per cubic metre.

Non official translation