The socialist politician Fernando Beltrán has accused Spain’s People’s Party of supporting a water diversion from the Ebro The occasion was remarks by former prime minister José María Aznar, who had announced a national water pact in the event of a People’s Party election victory. On 14 November, Beltrán said his party would again prevent a diversion from the Ebro.
The Socialist Workers’ Party candidate for the Congress of Deputies in the constituency of Zaragoza said during a visit to Pinares de Venecia, a wooded area in Zaragoza, that the People’s Party had adopted a corresponding demand from the right-wing Vox party. There would be no such diversion under a socialist government. He urged voters to support his party in the parliamentary election on 29 November.
Earlier, at a People’s Party campaign event in Albatera, in the province of Alicante, Aznar had said that party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo would push for a major water pact within the first hundred days if the party took office. Aznar also defended the national water plan from his own time in government. It had envisaged a diversion from the Ebro.
Beltrán’s accusation is a political assessment, not evidence that a decision has already been made on a new Ebro diversion. The announcement of a water pact does not in itself specify a route, water volumes or a start date for construction.
The dispute had already flared up again before Aznar’s appearance. Vox leader Santiago Abascal had backed a national water plan linking all river basins. When asked about reviving the Ebro diversion, however, he did not explicitly commit to this project.
Aragón’s regional president Jorge Azcón of the People’s Party said on 9 November that his party opposed a diversion from the Ebro and would continue to hold that position. In Aragón, the People’s Party governs together with Vox. Water distribution also affects the interests of other Spanish regions.
The historic conflict dates back to Aznar’s time in government. The national water plan adopted at the time included a diversion from the Ebro; the socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero repealed this section in 2004. A new water pact would be a separate matter: Aznar’s announcement does not make clear what specific measures it would involve.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).