The president of the Cortes of Castilla-La Mancha, Pablo Bellido, present this Saturday at the XXX Ganchera Festival of Alto Tajo, has emphasized that the autonomous community is not in a position to authorize a new water concession to Madrid "that is greater than all that the Henares Corridor and the capital of Guadalajara have."
For this reason, he has called on all the administrations involved, including the City Council of Guadalajara, to "instead of kneeling before the demand of the Madrid president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, let us defend our future, because if we want employment we must manage water for our farmers, tourism, and industry."
From Poveda de la Sierra, Bellido has appealed for the unity of the political forces and the institutions of Castilla-La Mancha to "defend the water needs of Guadalajara" and has demanded that priority be given to the use in the province of the flow of the Tajo and Sorbe rivers "if they are to be converted into wealth," before attending to requests for diversions from Levante or the Community of Madrid.
"If Murcia, Madrid, or Valencia need water to drink, there will always be solidarity, but if the water is going to be transformed into wealth through industry, tourism, or agriculture, it must always stay first where it is," stated the president of the regional Cortes.
He has thus reiterated his defense of the water interests of the province of Guadalajara, a claim that he has extended to all political parties and administrations of Castilla-La Mancha, both regarding the Tajo-Segura Transfer and the Sorbe supply system.
"We ask the Government of Spain to be brave: it has been the first in history to share the vision of Castilla-La Mancha of not transferring so that those who receive the water are rich at the expense of those who give it: we are supportive, but if that water is going to be transformed into economy, it must first do so where it is."
In this context, and according to the Cortes themselves, Bellido has referred to the request from the Community of Madrid for a stable concession for the Canal de Isabel II of up to 8,000 liters per second and 50 million cubic meters annually from the Sorbe, from the Pozo de los Ramos dam, in the Sierra Norte of Guadalajara, destined for the capital.
"We respond with the same idea: if it is for human supply, we will be supportive; but not if it is to transform that water into wealth, because they impoverish us if they take it away."
The president of the regional Parliament has emphasized that there is no rejection of the Community of Madrid promoting new developments, and has pointed out that, in fact, "it has expanded and already drinks from the Sorbe and the Tajo."
Ganchera Festival of Alto Tajo and rural claim
In relation to the Ganchera Festival, Bellido has recalled that this ancient trade now disappeared "defines the region" and that currently "it serves to advocate for those who live here, who have also been concerned with preserving this precious tradition."
The celebration, declared a Festival of Regional Tourist Interest and organized by the Association of Gancheros Municipalities of Alto Tajo (Poveda de la Sierra, Taravilla, Peralejos de las Truchas, Peñalén and Zaorejas), with the collaboration of the Junta de Castilla-La Mancha and the Provincial Council, includes each year a wide program of activities during the weekend. The central event takes place on Saturday morning, with the recreation of the timber floating, recalling how for five centuries the gancheros drove the logs through the Tajo riverbed from the mountains to the factories of Aranjuez.
True to its itinerant nature, in this edition the festival has taken place in Poveda de la Sierra and has counted with the presence of representatives from the Socialist and Popular parliamentary groups, the general director of Water of the Junta de Comunidades, Montserrat Muro, and various mayors and mayoresses of the municipalities integrated in the organizing association, among other authorities.