The mayor defends the Tajo-Segura water transfer along with councilors and irrigators from Alicante, Almería, and Murcia

The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, participated this Thursday in the event in defence of the Tajo-Segura water transfer, organised by the Central Irrigators' Union to demand an infrastructure that "has created employment and prosperity and provided a future for thousands of families for more than 40 years." The event brought together more than eighty mayors from the provinces of Alicante, Murcia, and Almería in Murcia. They signed the manifesto "Mayors for the Tajo-Segura Water Transfer," expressing their "firmest opposition to any decision that would cut even a drop of water from the transfer and jeopardise the water supply" in all these territories.

"We are here without hesitation, demanding what we deserve and what is fair," stated the mayor, who also emphasised that "water is life and, therefore, the future." “Enough is enough with damaging a productive land, which is now the fourth most populous province in Spain, and it is very clear that the Tajo-Segura water transfer is necessary. And that is why we join our voices with the province of Almería and the region of Murcia, as sister lands with the same problems,” he added.

Toni Pérez stated that, in the face of the new operating rules that entail a progressive reduction of 40% of the amounts to be transferred and 50% of the contributions for irrigation until 2027, “we say yes to the transfer, we say no to the new operating rules, and we unite because we know that the future not only of the province of Alicante, the region of Murcia, and the province of Almería is the transfer, but that it is also the future of Spain.”

The mayor also recalled that Benidorm City Council already demonstrated its support for this important infrastructure at the regular plenary session last May, when the PP and Vox supported a motion by the Popular Party (PP) demanding that the Spanish government maintain the current operating rules for the Tagus-Segura water transfer while developing a National Hydrological Plan "that provides a definitive response to the current problems and allows for a balance between the environmental needs of the Tagus and the survival of agriculture in the regions benefiting from the transfer."