Strawberries cause water crisis - 17th June 2022

Doñana National Park in southern Spain contains one of Europe's largest wetlands, now under threat from intensive farming.

The park, previously always filled with flamingos and flocks of migrating birds, has suffered from major droughts and water shortages. Climate change, overextraction by neighbouring strawberry farms, and illegal wells have all contributed to the emergency.

The problem's been exacerbated by the Andalucian government proposing an expansion of irrigation rights for farmers.

Juan Romero's a representative for Save Doñana.

Juan Romero: "Doñana is characterised as a wetland, and a wetland is the mouth of a river with water. And what we can see here is a dry land. A dry land is a desert. Doñana has no water, we've had a series of years of drought, it is true that it is a drought, but the waters of the aquifer, which are at surface level, maintained the lagoons. Those lagoons no longer exist in Doñana."

Huelva, where the park's located, produces 90 percent of Spain's strawberries. Referred to as 'red gold', the industry supports over 100,000 people through employment.

The battle for Doñana has pitted environmentalists against politicians and farmers. There's backlash against the proposal to expand extraction of groundwater from the EU, UN and major European grocery chains.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, it's essential the extraction of groundwater's stopped - or agriculture will die, claims Juanjo Carmona.

Juanjo Carmona: "Agriculture has been based on taking water from the ground. If the groundwater runs out, agriculture dies. The only solution that the administration has proposed is to bring water from somewhere else. So, what we have to do is rethink the model in Doñana."

The government of Andalucia, controlled by the conservative Popular Party and the far right party VOX, rejects claims that any problem exists. Rafael Segovia's the president of VOX.

Rafael Segovia: "There is not a water problem. It's a lie, an artificial problem that has been created. Doñana is not in danger if we do these works."

International supermarket chains have already written to the Andalucian government in protest. Farmers fear that unless a sustainable solution to the water problem's found, they will be unable to market their products.