Fernández-Pacheco meets with Gabriel Amat to address supply problems in this town in Almería
The Minister of Agriculture, Fishing, Water, and Rural Development, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, has announced that he will present to the Council of Government, at the beginning of 2025, the declaration of community interest for the construction of a water tank for urban consumption in the municipality of Roquetas de Mar in Almería, to help alleviate the drinking water supply problems in this town.
After meeting with the mayor of this town, Gabriel Amat, to address this issue, the minister emphasized the importance of Roquetas de Mar having enough water if there is any unforeseen event that requires the desalination plant to be stopped for more than a scheduled pause.
This involves, according to Fernández-Pacheco, the construction of a tank that will complement the pool that Acuamed will build associated with the Dalías II desalination plant. The declaration of community interest regarding the construction of this tank would facilitate the signing of an agreement between the Junta and the City Council to jointly fund the execution of the work.
“Roquetas de Mar is a municipality that has tripled its population in the last two decades, it is a reference point for regional, national, and international tourism, and an area of high agricultural production under plastic,” the Minister of Agriculture, Fishing, Water, and Rural Development noted.
This reinforces the decision of the Ministry to act in the interest of the autonomous community, as in other municipalities in the provinces of Seville and Huelva, which are also being studied to provide a solution to Andalusians who see their water supply endangered at specific times of the year.
Roquetas appreciates that the Junta “seeks solutions”
For his part, the mayor of Roquetas de Mar has thanked the Minister of Agriculture that when this municipality has problems “he always seeks solutions,” even if it is Acuamed who would have to act. Furthermore, after explaining that Roquetas de Mar is the second municipality in Spain with the most population growth and the first in Andalusia, Amat has argued that if Roquetas doesn't have water “it has nothing.”
Actions in the province of Almería
In the province of Almería, the Junta plans to invest 44.7 million euros in water policy in 2025, compared to 37.4M€ last year, which represents a 19.5 percent increase.
Among the works being carried out and continuing in 2025, the desalinated water connection work for the western part of Almería and the municipality of Roquetas de Mar stands out, with an investment of 14 million euros, on schedule, and expected to be completed before the beginning of next summer.
Also in Roquetas, on December 30th, the last payment for the tertiary connection work was signed, thus connecting the treatment plant with the community of irrigators Sol y Arena, which can now use the water. This work involved an investment of a little over two million euros with a subsidy from the territorial delegation of Agriculture in Almería of 881,457.07 euros.