The aquifer that supplies the crops of Casa de Alba on its farm in Aljóbar, on the outskirts of Doñana, in the Sevillian municipality of Aznalcázar, is at its lowest level since data began, a result of the “intensive exploitation” it has suffered in recent years.
This is what the latest technical report on the situation of these groundwaters determines, which however stresses that “it is not possible to determine that the only cause” was this agricultural exploitation in which eight illegal wells were detected. This triggered a complaint for “illegitimate risks” and the opening of a trial to investigate a possible environmental crime.
The property has two wells with the right to use 606,000 cubic metres per year to irrigate gourmet oranges and a super-intensive olive grove, or 200 hectares. The company that manages the land (Eurotécnica Agraria, managed by the ducal house) is converting these crops in parallel with the judicial process, for which it has presented a project that reduces the area to 161.6 hectares – without implying less water consumption – and that legalises these eight catchments, which were closed for months by order of the judge. The restrictions were lifted last spring despite the opposition of the environmental prosecutor’s office.
As part of the investigation carried out by the Court of First Instance and Instruction 1 of Sanlúcar la Mayor, the Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation (the water authority of this territory) was responsible for reporting on the evolution over the last five years of the aquifer affected by the extractions studied.
Although the company claims that it never used the wells without a permit and that it did not extract more water than was authorized, the prosecutor calculates that only in one agricultural campaign and in the middle of a drought, it would have pumped 305,851.73 cubic meters (305 million liters), 50% more than what is granted. This additional amount is economically estimated at 36,702.16 euros.
Origin in farms
The study determines that, based on the evolution of the piezometric level recorded at the points closest to the Aljóbar farm, “the intensive exploitation of underground resources in recent years is evident.” The technicians are clear that “the drift in the piezometric level” that they have confirmed “has its origin in its exploitation for agricultural purposes,” but they affirm that “it is not possible to specify that the only cause was the diversion of water in Aljóbar.” In this sense, they recall that in the vicinity of this farm “there are catches with the right to extract the resource of an equal or greater order of magnitude.”
Of course, the report also highlights that the complaint filed against the Casa de Alba company concerns a number of withdrawals greater than those authorized, a withdrawal of water that “was carried out without any volumetric control” and “without knowing its operating regime.” Therefore, it is not known whether “a greater volume of water was withdrawn than authorized or at times of the year when the extractions can produce a greater effect on the mass”, that is, in which it is remembered that the property has a large storage pond. Specifically, its capacity is 305,000 cubic meters.
The technicians analyzed four piezometers, two of which are more representative because they are closer to Aljóbar. In both cases, the data collected are the minimum values of the historical series, with decreases of 0.7 and 0.5 meters per year in the water table level in the last five years. A reduction that occurs even though the level of rainfall has remained constant during this period, even reaching higher records this year thanks to the rainfall in the first quarter. The data were analyzed between July 2019 and the same month of 2024.
The Alba estate draws its water resources from the Aljarafe Sur aquifer, declared in good condition and which borders the groundwater masses that give life to Doñana. That is to say, it is adjacent but it is not the aquifer in very poor condition that has been talked about in the last two years due to water piracy in the northern crown of the national park.
One environmental crime and another of disobedience
The other two piezometers studied are located further away, in the water bodies of Aljarafe Norte and Almonte. The records are milder, but the trend is the same: historical minimums and a drop in level, by 0.36 meters in the first case and 0.33 meters in the second.
The report has already been sent to the court in charge of the proceedings in which Eugenia Martínez de Irujo, Duchess of Montoro, has been summoned to testify as a defendant. In addition to an environmental crime, Eurotécnica Agraria is accused of another for disobedience, since the agents of the Civil Guard and the Guadalquivir Confederation who were going to close the eight wells without authorization were prevented from accessing the property.
The presidency of Eurotécnica Agraria rotates among members of the House of Alba and, at the time of the events, was officially held by Eugenia Martínez de Irujo. The company separated her from the day-to-day management of the farm and assured that Luis Martínez de Irujo “is the member of the board of directors responsible for the management” of Aljóbar. The warning against the illegitimate wells that gave rise to the trial was filed by a former worker on the farm, followed by a complaint from Ecologistas en Acción.
