Andalucía accused of pandering to far right over plans for Spanish wetlands

Madrid says regional authorities’ proposals for water use threaten Doñana world heritage site

Spain’s environment minister has accused the Andalucían regional government of engaging in “short-term electoral demagoguery” and playing into the hands of the far right by pressing ahead with irrigation plans for strawberry farms that could threaten the survival of one of Europe’s most important wetlands.

Water supplies to the Doñana Natural Space, whose marshes, forests and dunes extend across almost 130,000 hectares (320,000 acres) and include a Unesco-listed national park, have declined drastically over the past 30 years because of climate breakdown, farming, mining pollution and marsh drainage.