Murcia celery

Producer association Asaja-Murcia is warning that the water shortage in Murcia could have a serious impact on the region’s vegetable harvests this autumn.

“We are facing a very serious situation and if it and we don’t see any water in August and September we estimate that more than 60 per cent of production could be negatively affected,” said Alfonso Gálvez, the association’s secretary general.

He claimed the ongoing heat wave –the worst the country has experienced for 40 years – had exacerbated the situation, leaving many farms on the verge of running out of water completely.

Gálvez added that table grapes and citrus harvests were also under threat from the lack of water.