Spanish water plan on hold

A decision on EU funding for a plan to reroute water to a drought-stricken part of Spain will not be taken before the summer.

An application for funding of the controversial Spanish National Hydrological Plan (SNHP) has been sent to various departments of the European Commission, including environment and finance, but the final answers are still on the back-burner.

Notably, the environment department, which has long been concerned about the possible impact of the plan and Spain’s biodiversity, is withholding its opinion for the time being.

A commission spokesman on Monday said that “The commission has not taken any decision on co-funding – more information is required before a final decision can be taken.”

“We don’t think we will get the results before summer.”

The estimated total cost of the SNHP is €21 billion and the Spanish government is asking the EU for a third of this sum.

The plan is broken up into various small projects; Madrid has so far formally applied for funding of two of these.

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