Ecologists protest water diversion on Spain's Xúquer River

Ecologistas en Acción organized a rally along the Xúquer River to demand that water be kept flowing to the sea and not diverted to other regions. Participants placed banners highlighting that the river is nearly dry in its lower stretch because water is being siphoned off for irrigation in La Manxa, La Ribera and for supply to Valencia, Sagunt and the Vinalopó, with plans to extend transvassament to the Vinalopó threatening further depletion.

The protest, part of the XIV Maerà del Xúquer festival, combined celebration with a call for action, urging that the Xúquer be treated like the Turia before its diversion, emphasizing the need for clean, unpolluted water throughout the Ribera. Bicyclists from La Ribera helped install the signs, and the event included swimming in the river’s clear waters before the protestors arrived.

Organisers warned that continued water extraction could leave the Xúquer “dry and dead,” and called for the river to reach the sea as it naturally does.