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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Sam Jones in Madrid

Amnesty granted to illegal Spanish strawberry farmers despite protests over damage to wetlands

Doñana Spain Andalucía
Flamingos in flight over a lake in the Doñana national park, Andalucía, Spain.
Flamingos in flight over a lake in the Doñana national park, Andalucía, Spain.
 Photograph: imageBROKER/Mara Brandl/Getty Images/imageBROKER RF

Rightwing MPs in southern Spain have ignored protests from the central government, the EU, Unesco and several ecological groups by voting to grant an amnesty to illegal strawberry farmers who have been tapping water from the aquifer that feeds one of Europe’s largest protected wetlands.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Andalucían regional parliament approved the proposal, which will “regularise” 1,461 hectares (3610 acres) of land near the Doñana national park, thereby allowing farmers who have sunk illegal wells and built illicit plantations on the land to legitimise their operations.

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