The agreement between the Junta of Andalusia and the Government for Doñana would mean a rain of millions in Huelva. To the 356 announced a year ago by the Ministry of Ecological Transition in its environmental regeneration plan for the Park, a similar contribution is now added that, if the negotiations come to fruition, will raise the State's investment in the environment to 700 million. of the place. This second package will seek the economic development of the Northern Crown after the suspension of the controversial law to expand irrigation and will inevitably open a dispute between those affected by the law, who are beginning to propose the first alternative proposals to the reclassification of 750 hectares.

Both administrations have given themselves a week to bring together all the agents involved: mayors, social groups, farmers or environmentalists. The objective is to agree on a plan with concrete measures in one month, although both the Board and the Government assume that it will be impossible to please everyone.. Despite the conflict of interests, the affected parties celebrate the “new stage” and show their willingness to dialogue. Even more so with the promise of 350 million. In addition, they will suggest complementary ideas to intensive strawberry cultivation, a thriving business that is difficult to replace: from looking for another location to the greenhouses that were going to be regularized, to investing in complementary industries or diversifying the productive fabric..

The Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno, has been demanding for months more investment from the State in hydraulic works to guarantee supply in Huelva. This request will be among her priorities, as confirmed by sources from the Board, although the minister expressed her intention to avoid projects that involve “more water.”. The Tinto-Odiel-Piedras transfer, one of the most anticipated works in the area, aims to reduce punctures in the aquifer and the central government always rejected the possibility of taking advantage of it to grant more irrigation permits when the works were completed..

The socialist mayor of Moguer, one of the municipalities with the most affected hectares, defends several “intermediate solutions”. The first of them would be the relocation of the greenhouses: removing them from the Doñana area and bringing irrigation to dry lands that are currently unused.. “It is in no one's interest for this economic activity to disappear,” advances Gustavo Cuéllar (PSOE). The platform of irrigators affected by the Board's law already rejected the possibility of an exchange a few months ago.

There is also a division of opinion among the farmers themselves.. The irrigators of Almonte, who have already been against the law, intend that the investments go towards “hydraulic infrastructure to be completed”, from which they would benefit by having irrigation permits.. “If anyone is authorized to talk about sustainable crops, it is us,” says Manuel Delgado, spokesperson for the Puerta Doñana farmers association, which concentrates more than 50% of the irrigable land in the Hydrographic Confederation.. After learning of the agreement between administrations, the spokesperson for the owners who were going to benefit from the Board's law, Julio Díaz, demanded “viable and consensual solutions”, although he avoided putting other options on the table.. Until now, the irrigators of the Northern Crown had always prioritized the processing of the norm.

Another of the solutions proposed in recent months has been the purchase of the affected hectares. However, the sources consulted agree on the complexity of the operation. In municipalities like Lucena del Puerto, the affected lands are already located in public forests, even though they are transferred, and they do not have irrigation permits that the State could buy.. Furthermore, the distance between the lands that were intended to be regularized prevents a common project.. “What does the State do with three hectares in one point, five in another and four in another?” asks Juanjo Carmona, from WWF..

All the parties consulted put another alternative on the table: the transformation of the productive fabric in the area. Not only generate the strawberries, but invest the money in an alternative to mass production. From opening factories to not only plant, but also package and market other crops, to opening R&D&I centers specialized in red fruits.. “Surely people would want to work and it wouldn't happen like in the strawberry campaign, when we have to look for people from other countries,” adds Carmona.. The former mayor of Lucena del Puerto raises the potential of biomass plants. His municipality raised more than half a million euros in two years thanks to the sale of pines and eucalyptus felled “to keep the mountain clean”. “There are green economy options,” he says..

The mayor of Moguer is also betting on diversification into other sectors. An investment plan, “but this time true”. It refers to the Strawberry Plan approved in 2014, when hundreds of hectares were left without the classification of irrigable land.. This is where the controversial law arises, although that document also proposed actions worth 57 million euros.. “The aim was to optimize irrigation, consume less water, create pedestrian spaces for tourism…”, explains the former councilor of Lucena.. Most of these measures remain unexecuted, although Moreno has now committed to resuming this project inherited from the PSOE..

Environmentalists also ask to take advantage of the resources to guarantee the biodiversity of the Park. WWF suggests investing in the maintenance of dryland farms, such as olive groves, with public money. “If we have to face significant costs in hydraulic infrastructure, how much is each kilo of strawberry going to cost us? It is cheaper to bet on dry farms, supported with public money, to maintain a network of biodiversity in the Park's surroundings,” he insists. Carmona, who asks to base decisions on “scientific data.” “Those who have to speak are the technicians,” he concludes.