Rajoy promises water transfer to drought-stricken Alicante and Murcia
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By m.p. - Feb 28, 2008 - 9:40 PM
The opposition leader spoke of water for everyone compared to the desert of Zapatero

The sticky subject of a transfer from the Ebro River, left out of the Partido Popular’s electoral programme because of a policy split between the party’s regional leaders, was brought to the fore again on Thursday, when the PP leader, Mariano Rajoy, implied that a transfer to drought-stricken regions will go ahead if he is elected as Prime Minister.

There was no specific reference to an Ebro transfer in the party’s manifesto, but the fact that it leaves the door open to transfers from one water basin to another in the case of a surplus has been seen by some in the party as a clear reference that it is in fact included in the PP plans. The party’s leader in Aragón, Gustavo Alcalde, had threatened to resign if it was part of the manifesto.

Speaking at the Alicante trade fair in Elche, Rajoy spoke of ‘water for everyone’ compared to the ‘desert of Zapatero.’ ‘I promise you a green Spain,’ he said, ‘not yellow, the colour of Zapatero.’ Again, there was no specific reference to the Ebro itself, but he said he would transfer excess from other basins to those which are lacking if he becomes Prime Minister.

Rajoy said excess which would normally go into the sea would be transferred to Castellón, Valencia, Murcia and Almería.

The Información newspaper has meanwhile noted a report from the Geographical Institute at Alicante University which puts Alicante province bottom of the list in Spain for the amount of water available to each inhabitant – 408 cubic metres a year. The national average, they said, is 2,828 m3.

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