The Diplomat
The delegation of German parliamentarians who traveled to Spain to see on the ground the situation of strawberry irrigation in the environment of the Doñana National Park yesterday renounced to travel to Andalusia in order not to interfere in the early general elections on July 23.
In a statement, the delegation of the Committee on Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection of the German Bundestag said yesterday that the Spanish-German relations are characterized by their “intense exchange at all levels” and “deep mutual respect” for the institutions and democratic processes of the other country.
For this reason, and “in view of the great political importance that the issues of the trip have acquired in recent days in view of the upcoming Spanish national elections”, the Parliamentary Commission “has decided to renounce for the time being its long-planned trip to Andalusia,” it added. The purpose of the trip, it said, was “to exchange technical information on a subject of interest” to the two countries, such as climate change and its consequences.
For its part, the third vice president and minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, who last week retweeted a message from a German environmental group calling for a boycott of the Andalusian strawberry, which generated great indignation in the sector, yesterday thanked the decision of the delegation of parliamentarians to suspend their trip.
The spokesman of the Andalusian Government and Minister of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy, Ramon Fernández-Pacheco, said yesterday that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has left the “backfire” because, he said, tried to “politicize” this trip from the outset.
