During the Senate control session on Tuesday with the Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen, Esquerra senator Jordi Gaseni called on the Spanish Government to ensure that the Ebro Delta be included among the projects financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and by the European funds for water security and climate adaptation.

Mr Gaseni recalled that just weeks earlier, Esquerra had already conveyed this same issue to the European Commissioner for the Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy Jessika Roswall at the Joint Committee for the European Union, bearing in mind the need for European institutions to heed the critical situation the Ebro Delta is experiencing. During her statement, Ms Roswall pointed to the need to increase investment in water security through the Cohesion Funds, with an estimated allocation of around 15,000 million euros for all Member States.

In this regard, Mr Gaseni recalled Ms Roswall’s words and demanded from the Ecological Transition chief the “political will to use the funds in the Terres de l’Ebre” region, since the European Union and the EIB already have specific financial instruments to fund water resilience, environmental protection, and climate change adaptation projects.

Esquerra’s senator condemned the fact that “for years, the administration has cumulated plans, announcements and commitments that have never been turned into any real structural actions for the Delta”, and warned that the territory “cannot continue to be treated as second-class, when it is one of the most vulnerable areas in the State in the face of the climate emergency.”

During his address, Mr Gaseni also compared the significant investments destined for other territories, such as in Madrid, the Mar Menor in Murcia, or the Albufera in Valencia, with a lack of effective execution in the Ebro Delta. “When it comes to the Delta, it is all never-ending studies, vague schedules and excuses,” he lamented.

In her response, Minister Sara Aagesen assured that “we are in time, but we will monitor to maximize the funds”. In response to these words, Mr Gaseni warned that “the Delta cannot afford any more delays nor follow-ups lacking concrete decisions,” and demanded that the Spanish Government immediately activates the presentation of projects so that they can apply for European funds. “Too often the Spanish socialist PSOE comes late: late for commitments, late for investments and late for emergencies that affect the Terres de l’Ebre. With the Delta, coming late means condemning it,” he concluded.

For that reason, Mr Gaseni asked the Spanish Government for details on which projects it plans to submit for European funding, what resources will be allocated to the Delta, and when the actions they commit to will be carried out, demanding assurances that “this time the commitments will not come to nought again”.