The Platform in Defense of the Irrigated Lands of the Condado held an assembly this Wednesday with its members to update them on the processing of the aid for the renaturalization of agricultural estates in the surroundings of Doñana, included in the so-called Strawberry Plan.
During the meeting, the entity's technicians detailed the provisional results of the first call and explained the next steps of the procedure, whose final resolution is expected for mid-December.
The platform specified that it has processed applications corresponding to some 1,200 hectares from farmers in the five municipalities of the Condado included in the program, of which around 400 have initially been accepted.
By contrast, the remaining 800 hectares "continue without a favorable response," which has led the organization to insist on its demand that "the budget of the second call be doubled".
The spokesperson for the Platform, Manuel Mora, stressed that the goal is "that the 800 hectares that have been left out can have a new opportunity in the next call". "There are farmers who meet the requirements and who have not been able to access the aid due to lack of budget. That is why we have asked for the financial allocation to be doubled and for a response to be given to all these families," he added.
At the assembly, the technicians recalled that the deadline for submitting objections to the provisional resolution proposal ended last Tuesday, October 27. Since that date, the Biodiversity Foundation has 15 days to analyze the objections received and continue with the processing of the files.
According to the information provided to the members, each applicant will be informed individually about the outcome of their file and whether they can finally access the aid. The Platform's forecast is that the process will be closed by mid-December and that, around that time, the second call will be published, which it considers essential to serve those who were left out of the first.
"We hope that in December this first call will be resolved and that the second one will be opened as soon as possible. Farmers need certainty to decide what to do with their farms. We cannot continue accumulating months of waiting while there are families that have already stopped cultivating and still have not received any aid," Mora stated.
Some 300 families from the Condado, awaiting the aid
The Platform warned that this situation "affects some 300 families in the five municipalities of the Condado", some of which "are currently without agricultural activity and without the planned financial compensation". For this reason, the organization believes that expanding the budget "is necessary to prevent land that meets the required conditions from once again being excluded".
Likewise, it emphasizes that the new call "must maintain the requirements, the scoring criteria and the territorial scope" of the five municipalities included in the first one. The aim is for farmers to be able to resubmit their applications under the same rules and make use of the technical work and documentation already prepared.
"The farmers have dedicated time and resources to preparing their files. The reasonable thing is for the second call to maintain the conditions and have sufficient budget. We cannot allow those who have already made that effort to have to start from scratch or be left out again because of lack of funds", said the spokesperson.
Tribute to the victims of the accident and recognition of Julio Díaz
The meeting opened with a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the railway accident on the Madrid-Sevilla line, as a gesture of "respect and solidarity" toward the families of the deceased and toward the injured people.
During the assembly, words of support and recognition were also dedicated to Julio Díaz, who was spokesperson for the Platform for several years and who is currently going through "a delicate health process".
Those present highlighted his career, his "commitment" to the farmers of the Condado and his contribution to "the defense" of the irrigation systems of the region, "to which he has dedicated years of work and knowledge". The Platform conveyed to Julio Díaz and his loved ones "the affection of all its members" and its "best wishes in these difficult moments".