With the purpose of “continuing to join forces against industrial livestock farming”, the residents of the platforms of more than 20 localities in Cuenca will meet this Sunday, June 5, in Cardenete, at the IV Provincial Meeting of Pueblos Vivos Cuenca, this time under the motto ‘Much advanced, more to build’.
After more than two years without being able to celebrate in person, the original format of the meeting is recovered, since during the pandemic they were held virtually.
At the meeting, which will take place on the same day that World Environment Day is commemorated, the trajectory of the platforms in the last year and the current situation of industrial livestock projects will be shared.
As reported by the Pueblos Vivos platform in a press release, “in recent weeks, neighborhood activism in the province has achieved the cancellation of the authorization for the macro-farm that was being built 350 meters from the Quintanar del Rey well.”
In addition, they point out that it has published “the ruling that proves that a pig farm in Almendros is operating clandestinely, without the necessary activity and water permits.”
Among the topics to be discussed will be the regional moratorium on pig macro-farms, described as “insufficient” by Pueblos Vivos Cuenca due to the numerous exceptions it contains.
The association recalls that almost four months have passed since its entry into force and the “serene dialogue with everyone to be able to make decisions” that the president of Castilla-La Mancha announced on December 10 in Cenizate has not yet taken place, to justify said suspension until the end of 2024.
Pueblos Vivos Cuenca continues to demand strategic planning for the sector after a necessary detailed and rigorous examination of the accumulated environmental impact of the macro-farms in Castilla-La Mancha, which imposes limits on areas already contaminated with nitrates.
The meeting will also delve into the initiatives of the different organizations of which Pueblos Vivos Cuenca is a part, such as the State Coordinator for Stop Industrial Livestock, the Revolt of Empty Spain or Pueblos con el Tren.
Within this conference, the round table ‘What role do municipalities play in the processing of macro-farm projects’ will be held, where “a constructive dialogue will be established between several mayors of different political color and the members of the citizen platforms”.
On this occasion, the movements that make up Pueblos Vivos Cuenca have decided to show their support for Cardenete by holding the meeting in this municipality which, despite being within the Valle del Cabriel Biosphere Reserve, currently has a macro-farm and two projects In process.
They emphasize that “since 2017 a macro farm has been operating with a capacity of 6,370 fattening pigs in which more than 15,000 pigs are produced per year” and “the same promoter of this farm is processing a macro pig breeding farm, with 2,450 mother sows , just 1.4 km from the Cabriel river and a third transition macro-farm with a capacity of 13,440 piglets».
Precisely, in Cardenete measurements were carried out within the Citizen Network for the Monitoring of Nitrate Pollution promoted by Greenpeace and several sources in the municipality “showed results above 50 mg/L, a value from which both the EU and the WHO, considered as non-drinking water.
The Pueblos Vivos Cuenca Association is made up of neighborhood movements from Almendros, Arandilla del Arroyo, Barajas de Melo, Barchín del Hoyo, Campillo de Altobuey, Cañete, Cardenete, Gabaldón, Gascueña, Mariana, Mota del Cuervo, Portilla, Pozorrubielos de la Mancha, Priego, Quintanar del Rey, Reíllo, San Clemente, Tarancón, Tinajas, Torrejoncillo del Rey, Villalba de la Sierra, Villar de Domingo García, Víllora and Zarzuela, together with Ecologists in Cuenca Action and ACEM-Ecologists of La Manchuela.
