Boma Achenimie 
Following the impact of protracted drought in the country, the Spanish government has revealed plans to spend 2.19 billion euros ($2.4 billion) on new water supplies, subsidies and direct aid to farmers to alleviate the worsening situation they say has decimated the agricultural sector.
The country’s water reserves are typically just half full, and in the two worst-affected regions, Andalusia in the south and Catalonia in the northeast, levels have dropped to about 25%.
The Environment Minister, Teresa Ribera in a statement issued on Thursday said the majority of the funds, or 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion), would be used to construct new infrastructure, such as desalination facilities, to increase the amount of water that is available.
To assist farmers and ranchers deal with the lack of precipitation that has ruined crops and increased the price of animal feed, another 784 million euros will be spent.
“Spain is used to facing periods of drought, but due to climate change they have become much more frequent and intense and we must prepare ourselves,” Spain’s Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, told a news conference
The announcement of the aid package comes before the May 28 regional and municipal elections as well as the upcoming national elections, which are expected to be fiercely contested.
To assist farmers in coping with the extraordinary drought, the socialist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has already pushed Brussels to activate the bloc’s agriculture crisis fund.
According to the national weather bureau, Spain has experienced its driest start to a year since records began in 1961, with less than half the usual amount of rain falling during the first four months of 2023.
AEMET.
There appears to be no relief in sight. No rainfall is expected in the coming weeks that could “alleviate” the drought, AEMET spokesman Ruben del Campo said Thursday.
Spain, the largest supplier of olive oil in the world and the top producer of fruits and vegetables in the EU has suffered greatly due to the lack of rainfall.
Due to the severe heat and lack of rain in the 2022–2023 growing season, Spain’s olive oil production fell by 55% to 660,000 tonnes from 1.48 million tonnes in 2021–2022, according to estimates from the agriculture ministry.
The COAG farmers’ group issued a warning that 80 percent of cropland was “suffocating” from a lack of rainfall, and some farmers had decided not to grow crops due to the dire circumstances.
A heatwave that began unusually early and delivered extraordinarily high temperatures to parts of the country at the end of April exacerbated the drought.
On April 27, the southern city of Granada experienced the highest temperature ever recorded in mainland Spain during that month, reaching 38.8 degrees Celsius (101.8 degrees Fahrenheit).
Spain had its hottest year on record last year, according to UN data, and nearly 75% of its land is at risk of desertification as a result of climate change.
