Plan to save the Torrelodones dam: PP, PSOE and Vox promote the protection of the reservoir

The future of the Torrelodones dam has reached agreement between PP, PSOE and Vox. The three groups in the Madrid Assembly will take their own initiatives to protect the Peñascales reservoir, which could be demolished due to lack of use and a forgotten file, to the next Commission on the Environment, Agriculture and Interior, which is being held this Tuesday.. Almost a year ago, the Tajo Hydrographic Confederation (CHT) terminated the concession that allowed the town's City Council to exploit its waters for human supply and irrigation.. The CHT reported that the infrastructure had been unused for “more than three consecutive years”, which according to the Water Law means its extinction.

There was a middle option. Last December, the basin organization notified the Torrelodon City Council – then directed by Alfredo García, of a local party that lost the absolute majority to the PP in the last elections – that a file had been processed to terminate the contract for hydraulic uses.. It did so through the General Directorate of Water of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, Environment and Demographic Challenge, after the deadline for allegations had passed for the Torrelodones City Council to give them a response..

The new municipal team, now under the leadership of the popular Almudena Negro, has requested a new concession from the Confederation, which is being studied by its technicians.. The current City Council details that this extraordinary resource was requested about two weeks ago, for which they ask for “mixed use” of the water.. That is, it can also be used for recreational purposes.. They blame the previous Administration for “hiding a demolition order” and “not having filed a complaint in time”, while their predecessors deny the accusation and claim to have requested an urgent meeting with representatives of the CHT..

the same front

Now, the current municipal Executive is trying to recover control over the dam in any way possible.. To achieve this, PP, PSOE and Vox go together although their proposals are slightly different. Both the popular parties and those of Abascal will take their demands to the Madrid Assembly on Tuesday so that it urges the central government to reverse the decision of the Hydrographic Confederation, under the argument that these parties could do nothing because they had not been informed, according to they denounce, of the file that threatened the reservoir.

The proposal of the socialists, who share acronyms with the central government – which has power over the CHT and the rest of the bodies for the basins – is to declare Peñascales and its surroundings as a Special Environmental Protection Zone. This figure would shield the space and allow the City Council to “enjoy greater arguments in its request to conserve the dam.”. This is how Guillermo Martín, regional deputy of the PSOE, explains it.. He believes that, “unlike PP and Vox”, they do consider that the Confederation “has done its job well” by withdrawing the concession.

“It was an administrative error by the old municipal team. We cannot demand that those who comply with the law [in reference to the central Executive] change it just because: we have to give arguments,” he justifies.. However, he wants to make it clear that this is not about “pursuing any plan to renaturalize rivers” or acting “under Ferraz's guidelines”, as he sees people often accused of. “It is true that the Ministry [of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge] is removing small hydraulic infrastructures because they are abandoned and dangerous. But with large dams like this, things change,” he says, waiting for the the Environment Commission, their demands are taken into account.