The Court of Justice of the European Union condemned Spain this Thursday for not having taken sufficient measures against nitrate pollution in eight communities.
After the complaint presented by the European Commission in 2022, the magistrates now maintain that in several autonomous communities the regulations have not been complied with to combat this pollution linked to agriculture and livestock and that damages bodies of water, both surface and underground.
This case dates back to 2015, when the Commission - which must ensure compliance with the different directives - opened a file against Spain which was later transformed into an official notification warning that no measures were being taken to prevent the contamination of its waters. by nitrates.
Since 1991 there has been a directive focused on nitrate pollution generated by agricultural and livestock activities that all EU members must comply with.
This rule obliges countries to control their waters and identify those affected or that may be affected by this problem.
They are also required to classify the surfaces whose runoff flows into these waters as zones vulnerable to nitrates and to establish appropriate action programs to prevent and reduce pollution from this cause, as established in that standard.
As the Commission warns, “excessive levels of nitrates can harm freshwater and the marine environment through a process known as eutrophication, by stimulating excessive growth of algae that suffocates other forms of life and kills fish in lakes and rivers.”
Hence, it is a type of pollution that is closely monitored and that in Spain represents an unsolved problem.
The European Court considers, in a ruling released this Thursday, that in the autonomous communities of the Balearic Islands, Madrid and the Valencian Community, the obligation to designate eight water collection points as vulnerable areas due to runoff (surface water) or infiltration has been breached. (groundwater).
Spain is also condemned for failing to comply with the provision of the nitrates directive that requires establishing “all necessary mandatory measures in the action programs” of Aragon, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Extremadura and Madrid.
Finally, the court declares that Spain has also failed to comply with European regulations for not having adopted the necessary additional measures or reinforced actions in relation to nitrate pollution in Aragon, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León and Murcia.
Sources from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition are concerned about the state of underground masses: “The high nitrate content of rivers and aquifers is one of the main problems in water bodies throughout the country.
“We continue working to guarantee the good condition of the underground masses, investing in sanitation and purification.”
However, they defend that in 2022 a new state regulation was approved (Royal Decree 47/2022, of January 18) that helps identify waters affected by nitrates and establishes more demanding thresholds for their designation as vulnerable areas.
Approved after several requirements from the European Commission, this standard, among other issues, modified the limit for considering groundwater as contaminated, reducing it from 50 mg/l to 37 mg/l.
“40% of underground resources are in a poor state of conservation.
The third cycle Hydrological Plans aim to ensure that the use of aquifer waters does not exceed their regeneration capacity,” they admit, however, in the department of Teresa Ribera.
“Third cycle hydrological plans aim to ensure that the use of aquifer waters does not exceed their regeneration capacity,” say the same sources.
214,000 people without drinking water
This affects the environment, but also people.
State legislation considers tap water unfit for human consumption when it exceeds 50 milligrams per liter (mg/l).
According to the latest available data - those for 2022, published by the Ministry of Health last January - at least 171 municipalities throughout Spain exceed that figure.
From this list, Ecologistas en Acción has calculated the affected population, which it estimates at around 214,000 people.
The majority of towns are located in empty Spain, where macro-farms and large intensive agricultural operations also tend to be located.
“Spain has allowed a disproportionate growth of the intensive livestock herd, such as macro farms, and an uncontrolled use of synthetic fertilizers in agriculture.
This has led to enormous contamination of aquifers by nitrates that leads us to an alarming situation, especially in periods of drought, where water reserves are strategic,” explains Luís Ferreirim, head of Agriculture and Livestock at Greenpeace Spain.
Ferreirim sees this decree as positive but insufficient: “It is progress, because it allows measures to be taken before they cannot be used for human consumption, but it is not enough, because the autonomous communities should also act.”
For this reason, the environmental organization asks that Ecological Transition coordinate the autonomies to declare new vulnerable zones due to nitrates and that measures be taken so that macro farms or new irrigation systems are not installed there.
“In addition, we ask for a reduction in the intensive livestock herd of 50% between now and 2030, and a plan to reduce synthetic fertilizers, something that the European Commission already establishes in its Biodiversity Strategy,” concludes the expert.
This issue irritates many small towns, whose small town councils find it difficult to litigate with large companies that settle in their territories and pollute their waters.
In fact, next Sunday at 12:00 the Pueblos Vivos Cuenca association – which brings together many towns in the province – has called for a human chain to demand from the authorities “greater protection of water in the face of growing nitrate pollution”, since “ "A quarter of the province is declared a vulnerable zone to nitrates by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and 32 municipalities in the province have exceeded the permitted level of nitrates in tap water at some point in recent years."
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