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Brussels will grant 68 million to Spanish farmers for the damage caused by drought and DANA

by AI | 19.Feb 2025 | Europe in brief AI

The Commissioner for Agriculture, Christophe Hansen, has assured that the support announced this Wednesday is proof of the “European solidarity” with the farmers.

Orange field devastated by the DANA, November 21, 2024, in Algamesí, Valencia, Valencian Community (Spain). Photo: Rober Solsona / Europa Press

Brussels – The European Commission will release 68 million euros from the agricultural emergency reserve to help Spanish farmers affected by damage suffered in the field due to the drought in 2024 and other weather events such as the disaster generated by the DANA on October 29 of the previous year that mainly devastated Valencia.

Among the most affected sectors, Brussels lists wine, olive, fruit and vegetable productions, and livestock; although it does not provide further details about the impact on each area.

The Twenty-Seven gave the green light this Wednesday to the proposal from Brussels, which must now formalize the allocation and will come into effect “without delay” once the measure is published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU). Then, national authorities will be responsible for distributing the funds among those affected, no later than September 2025.

In addition to the urgent aid for Spain, the European Commission has also committed payments from this reserve to producers affected by natural disasters in Hungary (16.2 million euros), Croatia (6.7 million), Latvia (4.2 million), and Cyprus (3.5 million).

In the case of Spain, EU services explain that the country suffered “lack of rainfall and extreme heat during the summer of 2024” which caused a drought and later, at the end of October and beginning of November, “the severe storms caused by the DANA phenomenon brought exceptionally intense rains and devastating floods,” including the disaster that left numerous deaths and became “the worst catastrophe” to hit the Valencian Community this century.

The Agriculture Commissioner, Christophe Hansen, has assured that the support announced this Wednesday is proof of “European solidarity” with the farmers.

“We cannot change what has already happened, but we can learn from it and be better prepared,” reasoned the commissioner, who has advocated for “strengthening risk management in the agricultural sector for farmers across the EU, while ensuring that our response remains rapid and specific in case of crisis.” (February 19)