New agriculture minister announces aid for all farmers affected by drought

Catalonia's agriculture minister, Òscar Ordeig, announced a new line of aid for farmers throughout Catalonia that have been affected by the drought.

The territory has been in the midst of a severe drought for the past three years, with restrictions placed on water usage and reservoir levels at historic lows.

Ordeig explained that the grants will be adapted according to the "detriment of the drought," with the aim of ensuring that no farmer has to close business.

The subsidies will be "as fair as possible and reach those who need it," he added.

The minister placed particular emphasis on the farmers of the Priorat area, one of the areas most affected by the lack of rain, and that the aid will also go to cooperatives.

To guarantee that these Priorat farms can irrigate their crops, which are mainly olive groves, Ordeig remarked that they will speed up works to connect the Margalef reservoir to the Garrigues Sud irrigation system.

No date has been set but Ordeig hopes to have the works finished in a matter of months.

Speaking at the event for the minister's visit, José Antonio Robles, president of the Cabacés Cooperative, emphasized the extreme drought situation that many families who depend on oil production live in.

In the town, 99% of the farms have not produced olives because of the drought, according to Robles, a situation they had never seen before because the Margalef reservoir is dry.