EU warns Spain over expanding irrigation near prized wetland

By JOSEPH WILSON
Associated Press

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The European Union has warned Spain that it won’t tolerate renewed plans by regional politicians in the country’s south to expand irrigation near its endangered Doñana wetlands. The Donana wetlands are a UNESCO world heritage site and considered one of Europe’s key biospheres. But regional lawmakers in Andalusia have dusted off plans to reclassify some land near the park as irrigable. They say that the water would come from surface sources. Ecologists say that many of these lands already used water illegally drawn from unauthorized wells. The EU warns that any increase of water extraction from aquifer underlying Doñana would earn a fine for Spain.