The Minister of Rural Environment, María José Gómez, has announced that in 2027 new lines of economic support will be launched, aimed, on one hand, at recovering agricultural activity in the surroundings of rural centers and, on the other, at promoting pilot innovation projects in small and medium enterprises.
During her speech in Parliament, the regional official detailed that the budget of her ministry for the next fiscal year will amount to 742.9 million euros, which represents an increase of 5% compared to the previous year.
Among the main novelties, Gómez has announced a specific line of aid for applied innovation pilot projects, endowed with 5.8 million euros for the period 2027-2029. This measure aims for SMEs in the agricultural, livestock, forestry, and agri-food sectors to develop innovative solutions tailored to their real needs, in collaboration with research centers or technological entities, also ensuring the transfer of results to the entire sector.
At the same time, the minister explained that another line of aid will be enabled to reactivate agricultural activity in the surroundings of rural centers. The goal is to recover abandoned lands, expand the territorial base of the farms, and strengthen the protection of villages against wildfires through the production of those areas.
Likewise, a specific allocation will be incorporated within the General Directorate of the CAP and Food Chain Control to combat food losses and waste, in order to improve the efficiency of the system and reduce the economic and environmental impact.
Fight against wildfires and main allocations
In the breakdown of the accounts, the minister highlighted the 226 million euros allocated to the General Directorate of Forest Defense, of which 118 million will be allocated to the prevention and extinction of wildfires.
In this area, the public biomass management system is consolidated, to which more than 25 million euros will be dedicated. In addition, 13.4 million are reserved to expand and improve fire prevention infrastructures, including actions at air bases such as Beariz, Doade, Antela, or the new base of Setecoros in Valga, as well as at operational unit bases (BUO), with improvement works in Viveiro and new facilities in Bande and in the districts of Miño-Arnoia, Verín-Viana, A Limia, and O Condado-A Paradanta. 2 million euros are also contemplated for new vehicles and material means, along with another 7 million to renew the equipment of the firefighting personnel.
The General Directorate of Livestock, Agriculture, and Agri-food Industries will manage 197 million euros. Within this area, 9.4 million stand out for environmental investments in the agri-food industry, aimed at reducing emissions, incorporating renewable energies, and utilizing agricultural biomass.
The wine sector will have 12 million euros, including support for landscape conservation in the Ribeira Sacra. At the beginning of October, the five denominations of origin reported to Europa Press the data from the 2026 harvest, with 78.5 million kilos collected, the highest figure since records began. In her intervention at the Economy Commission this Tuesday, the councilor confirmed this data and defined the harvest as "historic."
The protection of the livestock population will have 15.3 million euros. The allocation for the hiring of agricultural insurance will increase by more than 10%, reaching 10.5 million euros, which means an additional million to support the subscription of policies.
Regarding the CAP aids, which benefit nearly 22,000 recipients and complement a contribution of own funds of 52.8 million, the total amount mobilized will be around 210 million euros.
In terms of generational change, a call for a line of aid will be activated with 44.1 million euros aimed at improvement plans, incorporating young people into the countryside, and environmental actions in the farms. Training will have 2.43 million euros, which represents a 33% increase compared to the current year.
The Galician Agency for Agro-Food Quality will have more than 44 million euros, with the aim of achieving "greater profitability for those who produce." The promotion of Galician foods with differentiated quality seals will absorb more than 13 million.
For its part, the budget of the General Directorate of Planning and Forest Management will be 83 million euros, to which nearly 4 million are added for the recovery of pastures in community forests. Among the planned measures is the creation of a specialized laboratory in forest health, financed from funds for pest control.
The rural development policies will have a total of 105 million euros between the General Directorate of Rural Development and the Galician Agency for Rural Development (Agader). Within this amount, more than 20.5 million are included for rural roads and 27.2 million for land mobilization, which encompass the promotion of tools such as the Land Bank and agroforestry polygons.
Criticism from the opposition
In the parliamentary debate, Secundino Fernández (BNG) reproached the "little ambition" of the Rural Environment accounts, which, he indicated, "decrease year after year percentage-wise in relation to the total." He pointed out that in 2025, 146 million euros from this department were left unexecuted or diverted to other ministries.
He also denounced that the Xunta "puts on a platter" eucalyptus plantations through a new change in the accompanying law of the budgets, despite the fact that the area already reaches "500,000 hectares."
Secundino Fernández described the councilor as a "television preacher" who talks about a "happy" and "imaginary" world while, according to him, does not execute a good part of the budgeted items.
For her part, Lara Méndez (PSdeG) accused the Xunta of leaving 2.277 billion euros from Rural Environment unexecuted between 2009 and 2025, which has reduced the accounts to "much announcement and little result."
Méndez has also criticized the "marketing" ahead of the municipal elections, considering that the infrastructure allocation in rural areas is one of the ones that "significantly increases". In addition, he has criticized that the conselleira does not appear in the commission of the dairy sector created in the Galician Parliament. Meanwhile, Armando Ojea (Democracia Ourensana) has lamented that the more than 700 million assigned to this department in 2027 would not even be enough, in his opinion, to cover the needs of the province of Ourense.
Response from the conselleira and accusations of machismo
In her turn to reply, the conselleira do Medio Rural has denounced "machismo" on the part of the BNG deputy Secundino Fernández, describing his attitude as "denigrating": "You insult and belittle me in each of my interventions." Subsequently, Miguel Ángel Viso (PPdeG) has joined the criticisms of María José Gómez and has stated that the nationalist parliamentarian "has been a bit rude lately".
Next, María José Gómez has reproached Lara Méndez that the socialist deputy "did not understand the budgets well".
Regarding the agreement of the Twenty-Seven on the bases of the new CAP, Gómez has condemned that the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, claims that "he is not in a position to negotiate".
Regarding the dairy sector, the conselleira has recalled that "four months ago" she requested a face-to-face meeting with Planas and that she is still "waiting for him to respond".