Costa Cálida
The Ebro water transfer will go ahead with a PP majority, says Murcia politician
By m.p.
Feb 10, 2008 - 8:35 PM

The Partido Popular’s decision last week to leave a specific mention of water transfers from the Ebro River out of their electoral programme continues to be the focus of debate in Murcia and Valencia, with a comment from the Murcia government’s councillor for water and agriculture that the transfer will definitely go ahead if the PP is voted in with an absolute majority.

Speaking to La Verdad newspaper from a trade fair in Berlin, Antonio Cerdá said the fact that the programme leaves the door open to transfers from one water basin to another in the case of a surplus is a clear reference to an Ebro transfer. Cerdá said if the PP reaches government without needing the support of any other parties and the Ebro transfer does not then go ahead, he would resign.

In the Valencia Region, the Federico Trillo, who heads the Partido Popular’s list for Alicante province in the general election, has issued a statement referring to a PP ‘candidates’ manual,’ which he says makes explicit reference to a transfer from the Ebro to Valencia. He said the manual is drawn up by the party’s national leadership to set out the key points of the electoral programme, and to act as a guide during the campaign.

The Deputy Prime Minister, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, meanwhile commented on Sunday on the policy split within the PP that they had got themselves ‘into a mess’ over the water transfer. There were reports that the party’s regional president in Aragón, Gustavo Aragón, had threatened to resign if the Ebro transfer were included on the Partido Popular electoral programme.