Overview
- About 29 irrigators locked themselves inside the Duero water authority’s Valladolid offices as hundreds rallied outside demanding a reversal of new costs and calling for the president’s resignation.
- The protesters insist a 1995 agreement exempted them from paying energy and maintenance costs for the Villalobar pumping station, arguing the new billing threatens their farms.
- Growers cite a projected electricity increase of more than 125%, fees of 121.05 euros per hectare plus a 25.18 euros per hectare canon, and added costs of roughly €4,000–€5,000 per holding.
- The CHD says investment and maintenance expenses have surged and must be passed on via regulation canons and water-use tariffs, noting a 25-year exemption it estimates saved the community over €50 million and did not confer a permanent right.
- After the secretary general pledged access, CHD president María Jesús Lafuente met the group and committed to continue working on a solution within the law, with negotiations to resume Wednesday.