Farmers within the Río Verde, Río Seco and Río Jate valleys have breathed a sigh of relief thanks to the rain over the last few days, because it has been a respite.

It is calculated that between 80 and 100 litres of rain fell per square metre leading up to Saturday

The Chairman of the Asociación de los ríos Verde, Seco y Jate, José Luis Ruiz Olivares, however, remains pessimistic, stating, “Amongst the 3,000 hectares of subtropical fruit trees scattered over small orchards, are plantation that are in an unrecoverable state.”

Farmers have not ceased in their demands for pipelines from Rules Reservoir to be completed and in operation over the last 17 years. They have also campaigned for the water table to be topped up using recycled water from the sewage treatment plant, which, considers Sr. Olivares, should be carried out immediately.

Editorial comment: stop clearing yet more hillsides to plant even more irrigation-dependent trees – the writing is on the wall as to how this is going, after all.

(News/Noticias: Almunecar/Herradura, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)