Protest in Murcia

First it was the river Ebro and now it is the river Tajo. ¡Basta ya! (enough already!)

15,000 people gathered in the main avenue of Murcia yesterday in defence of the Tajo-Segura aqueduct and against the “threat” of the Statute of Castille-La Mancha.

Industralists, members of unions, members of the autonomic Government and parliamentarians along with leaders of PP and PSOE with their Secretary Generals at the head joined together in an extraordinary assembly that finished with a warning : If the Statute of Castille-La Mancha is in opposition to the interests of the river basin of the Segura then they will take “more forceful actions”. “We are not going to take a step back”.

What the protestors don't want is the Tajo-Segura Transfer to be used as a political weapon between neighbouring regions in the country. The Castilian text of La Mancha, if adopted, would end the use of the aqueduct between the two rivers in 2015, it would establish a reserve of 600 hectometres of water, eliminate the purchase of water and transfer control the use of the water from the Tajo to Toledo.

Agriculturalists in the Vega Baja rely upon the transfer of water from the head of the Tajo to the Segura to grow their fruit and vegetables. They say that this decision would affect the lives of the 70,000 families who live in the region.