Sometimes we only react to the price of electricity as end consumers; but that is only one place where it hits us. It also hits us indirectly when we go out and buy something. Take the case of the Almuñécar farmers in the vega…
Rio Verde has hundreds of fruit trees along its length, both on the valley floor, also known as the vega, as well along the valley sides. One look at the riverbed however, tells you that it has been dry for months, as it is each year during this season, so the water for irrigation doesn’t come from there, but from wells equipped with powerful pumps. To meet the costs of these pumps, the farmers are in an association of irrigated landowners (comunidad de regantes), thus each farmer pays a set amount for ‘X’ amount of hours of water once or twice a week.
Well, with the latest increase in IVA, coupled with previous price rises, they’re looking at around 10% more on the electricity bill for a thirsty, 3-phase, heavy-duty pump on one side, and the big fruit-clearing houses and distribution chains squeezing from the other. The end result is that the vega farmers are slowly going out of business.
Antonio Antequera, who is an administrator for 14 different irrigation associations, says, “We have seen an increase of 12% in the price of electricity in the last two or three years, which had caused a 15% rise in the abandonment of cultivated land in Almuñécar.”
He pointed out that irrigating land on the higher parts of the valley costs around 330 a month per hectare… and all the time the product is worth less. For example, a farmer gets around 30 or 40 centimes a kilo for avocados, which is a far cry from what the consumer pays at the supermarket, even if it is only just around the corner.
Sons who have inherited the land of their parents keep hold of it, but are not cultivating it, because it is just not worth it.
In fact, the long awaited irrigation water from the Rules or Beznar reservoirs are the only way out, but despite Rules having been completed and brimming for a couple of years there is still no distribution network in place…
(Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)