Bad territorial planning of the greenhouses in Granada’s coast could turn the area into a new El Ejido, characterized by soil erosion, environmental pollution and flood risk. This conclusion can be extracted from “Environmental-territorial assessment of irrigation agriculture in the Mediterranean coast: the case of Granada”, a thesis developed by professor of the University of Granada Alberto Matarán, where he demands more coordination between the administrations and a better management of the natural resources to avoid damage in the area.
According to the scientist, it is not a question of eliminating the greenhouses, as they are one of the main engines of the development of the area, but of reorganizing the territory to allow, on the one hand, a better subsistence of this farm system and, on the other hand, the preservation of the environment. In this sense, Matarán suggests certain measures, like the creation of green corridors to avoid greenhouse sprawl, waste control or the carrying out of a hierarchic occupation system.
Regional moratorium
But these are not the only works that should be developed to avoid the Granada’s coast degradation. The creation of a regional moratorium to check the creation of new greenhouses until the preparation of a territorial plan, the protection of the environmental values of the area such as riverbeds or forests, and the improvement of the greenhouse system as regards training, manpower, transport or commercialization, are other aspects that should be taken into account.
According to the study developed by professor Matarán, these measures do not only help to preserve the environment and improve the landscape image, but also affect agricultural development, as the creation of green corridors to divide greenhouses and the reduction of pollution “boost pests reduction, one of the main problems for the economy of this kind of farms”.
Although the appropriate measures have not been taken yet, the professor of the University of Granada praises the behaviour of Motril’s Town Hall, which has carried out a territorial planning through an ordinance, “an initiative that should be applied with severity and extend to the rest of towns in the coast”, he says.
Water planning
Besides the environmental impact caused by greenhouses in the area, the researcher has also analysed other important questions such as water and water planning and, on the other hand, the economic and productive profitability of the main irrigation crops.
As regards water and water planning, the researcher says that in the area of the Contraviesa and in the environment of Almuñécar, agriculture consumes a high proportion of the resources available, provoking a great scarcity, whereas in the environment of the delta of river Guadalfeo this situation less serious up to now. In any case, the uncontrolled growth of agriculture and tourist urbanization results in the overexploitation of aquifers and drinking water salinity, which can lead to supplying problems, especially in drought periods like the present one.
Despite all the problems derived from farming under plactics, Matarán insists that they “are the most important agriculture of Granada´s littoral division due to its extraordinary growth and its high economic and productive profitability”. Even so, the researcher defends the promotion and protection of traditional and subtropical agriculture, which “not only favours and protects the environment, but also helps to the landscape enrichment of the area”.
Reference
Prof Alberto Matarán Ruiz
Dpt. Graphic, Architectural and Engineering Expression
(Area of Town and Country Planning)
Tel. 958 249 978 / 958 242 870
E-mail. mataran@ugr.es
