Spanish PM, EU slam Andalusian wetlands irrigation plan

By JENNIFER O’MAHONY
Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Prime Minister and the European Union’s environmental chief have slammed a plan by right-wing lawmakers in the Andalusia region to expand water rights for farmland around the Doñana nature reserve. The center-right Popular Party and far-right Vox movement first proposed rezoning land around Andalusia’s Doñana national park in March, and regional lawmakers backed the plan last week. The bill’s critics say this would effectively offer an amnesty to farmers already using illegal wells to tap into the Doñana aquifer to grow berries for export across Europe. Spain’s prime minister on Thursday urged Andalusian politicians to “get back on track with European law” and “stop this outrage.”