Sánchez calls on the Junta de Andalucía to return to "European legality" so as not to bring Doñana to a "point of no return"

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has called this Thursday on the Junta de Andalucía to "rectify" and "return to European legality" to avoid an "unaffordable cost" to the Doñana National Park hand in hand with the proposed law of PP-A and Vox that is currently being processed in the Andalusian Parliament for the expansion of irrigable areas in the environment of said natural "treasure", which could reach a "point of no return" if it is applied.

This has been warned by the head of the Socialist Executive in a statement to the media during a visit to the area near the ICTS Biological Reserve of Doñana accompanied by the Government delegate in Andalusia, Pedro Fernández, in the middle of the controversy over the processing of said bill supported by the Andalusian Government chaired by Juanma Moreno (PP-A).

Pedro Sánchez has alluded in his speech to the letter that the European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevicius, has signed in response to a parliamentary question registered by the Socialist MEPs César Luena and Javi López, in which he conveys that the European Commission will use " all the means at its disposal" to guarantee that Spain complies "effectively and without delay" with the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU that requires the protection of the wetland if the Andalusian Parliament approves said irrigation law in Doñana under the announced terms.

In this regard, the President of the Government has remarked that the European Commission is the "main institution in charge of ensuring the protection of our environment, of the biodiversity of our natural heritage", and this Thursday "we have once again known a resounding position, blunt" of said body in which "it leaves things resoundingly clear".

As Sánchez has emphasized, the European Commission has come to convey that "the bill that is being processed by PP and Vox in the Andalusian Parliament contravenes European legislation", for which it has made "a call for reflection and rectification". by the Board, to "abandon arrogant positions and return to the path of European legality and respect for the environment and awareness that, day in and day out, science is warning us of the effects of the climate emergency, on all in ecosystems as fragile as the Doñana National Park", as he asserted.

The president began his appearance by noting that with this visit he wanted to "give testimony" to the Spanish population of "the importance of the Doñana National Park" and the "seriousness of the situation it is experiencing, first of all due to the climate emergency". , as well as "remember that it is the responsibility of all public administrations", and "singularly" in this case of the Junta de Andalucía for having the "main powers", having as a "fundamental task" the "preservation of this treasure".

He added that this treasure, in reference to Doñana, "transcends its ecological value, which has allowed farmers with a reputation that cannot be undermined by the legislative errors of an administration, or of the Andalusian Parliament in this case", and has defended that Huelva society "always feels connected to the area" of the Doñana park, which "above all and above all is a treasure of Spanish biodiversity, which transcends" the country, which "we share with society as a whole Europe and ranks as one of the main treasures of the world's biodiversity", as he remarked.

After inviting Spaniards who don't know it to visit Doñana and to learn "truly the importance of what is happening" in what is "the largest national park in Spain and the only one in the whole of the Iberian Peninsula cataloged by the UNESCO as World Heritage", in addition to "refuge for migratory birds" that transit from Europe to Africa, Sánchez has insisted that with his visit this Thursday he wanted to give "testimony of the commitment of the Government of Spain to the restoration and recovery" of said national park, and "to do it in a coordinated and consensual manner with institutions that have the main powers, as in this case is the Board".

The president has asserted that "if the scientific community, many farmers, the European Commission itself, in addition to the Government of Spain, we are saying that this PP and Vox bill contravenes European legislation, European rulings, and also the alarms that the Science is warning us about the climate emergency in ecosystems as fragile as Doñana; that is, if common sense and community legislation are telling us 'no' to this bill, I think there is no reason or excuse not to abandon that arrogant position and return to European legality and stop this outrage", he has sentenced.

Sánchez added that, "no matter how much absolute majority you have, this is not about electoral cost", but that "the treasure of Doñana is a treasure that our parents bequeathed to us Huelva, Andalusians and all Spaniards, and our main responsibility is to pass it on to our children as well."

"There is no reason, however great it may be, that legitimizes a government that has a four-year mandate to put a heritage that has centuries of duration at a point of no return, and that we hope will have many more after of our generation", has proclaimed the president, who has therefore insisted in his call for "reflection, rectification" by the Andalusian Government, to "be aware that denialism and arrogance, ignoring what what science or the European Commission says today again, is going to save Doñana".

RISK OF "FINE" FOR "ALL SPANIARDS"

The salvation of Doñana, as the president has maintained, requires "a public commitment to its restoration and recovery", and "heeding the warnings of science", he has abounded before adding that, "of course, what What an administration has to do is comply with the law, with the sentences, in this case from the European courts, and the warnings from the European Commission", and "it is not acceptable that the attempt to run over by PP and Vox in the assembly of Andalusia is going to have as a final result a fine that all Spaniards are going to have to pay for having contravened European rulings".

But "the most important thing" would be "the unaffordable cost in environmental and biodiversity terms that this measure can have in one of the main patrimonies of humanity", according to Pedro Sánchez, who finally dedicated words of thanks to the workers of the park for their "commitment".

Sánchez has defended that the "national political debate and also European and international" that has been generated in connection with the initiative of PP and Vox "can also help us to change the mentality of the people, to be aware of the seriousness of the emergency that we are facing, and the urgency of acting quickly so that we can adapt and mitigate as much as possible the effects of this emergency that is climate change", concluded the president.