The Ministry of the Environment has confirmed to Greenpeace that it has no intention of legalizing the more than 500,000 illegal wells, which according to data held by the Administration itself, are depleting our groundwater reserves. This was the main issue that the environmental association brought to the last meeting of the Water Working Group of the Environmental Advisory Council, on January 20, chaired by the general director of Water, Jaime Palop.

Fernando López Vera, director of the Groundwater Working Group, recently created by the Ministry of the Environment, was summoned to this meeting. Greenpeace asked him about the possible legalization of illegal wells, an assumption he flatly denied. All this, despite the fact that in the proposal to modify the Consolidated Text of the Water Law (TRLA), prepared by said working group, mention is made of a regularization of groundwater use, in its fourth additional provision. This provision has created great unease among the groups of farmers affected by illegal extractions, environmental and consumer organizations and the officials of the confederations themselves dedicated to filing the theft of water who thus see their work totally unauthorized.