The Generalitat Criticises the Government for Supporting the 'Unviable' Torrevieja Desalination Plant Project for Over a Year

The Consell deeply regrets that the Segura Hydrographic Confederation (CHS) has maintained for over a year a project that is 'unviable from an environmental standpoint', by attempting to locate part of the Torrevieja desalination plant project on land protected by the Natura 2000 Network, which has caused a 'technical and legal blockade now falsely attributed to the Generalitat', they assert.

The Regional Secretary for the Environment, Raúl Mérida, stated that the CHS knew since 2023 that it could not place one of the two reservoirs planned in the Torrevieja desalination plant project on protected land, and emphasised that 'it is not only irresponsible, it is a continuous lie to farmers and citizens'.

'From the Generalitat, we have worked to find solutions and have already proposed a new alternative location in Hurchillo, which meets the technical criteria, has the same elevation, and does not incur additional costs. What we will not allow is for environmental legality to be trampled on or for water to be used as a political tool,' he pointed out.

Furthermore, he recalled that it was he himself who, three weeks ago, publicly warned of the problem with the reservoir and committed to offering solutions. 'It is outrageous to blame the Generalitat for blocking the water, when it is the central Government that has not acted for years and now intends to impose illegal conduits, it is yet another example of the partisan and sectarian use of water,' added Raúl Mérida.

Meanwhile, the Director General of Water, Sabina Goretti Galindo, has denounced the unjustifiable five-year delay, announced this week by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Hugo Morán, of the new desalination plants in Torrevieja and Águilas (Murcia), 'presented as the great alternative to the Tajo-Segura transfer, while continuing with a cut that seriously threatens the future of irrigation in eastern Spain'.

Galindo recalled that the cut to the Tajo-Segura transfer by the government of Pedro Sánchez 'without any technical endorsement will result in economic losses reaching 6 billion euros, the destruction of 15,000 jobs, and the felling of 10 million trees'.

'What we need are solutions, not political headlines. Water is a common good, not an electoral weapon. While some lie, we work with technical and legal rigour to guarantee water for our land,' concluded Galindo.