The prosecution requests to continue investigating the House of Alba for eight clandestine wells near Doñana
A year ago, the Civil Guard reported the Alba House company, Eurotécnia Agraria, for environmental crimes related to eight clandestine wells on a property near Doñana. Now, the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office in Seville is asking for the investigation to continue. The evidence gathered confirms the accusation of allegedly damaging an aquifer very close to the natural reserve for at least a decade. Meanwhile, the company has requested to regularize these previously hidden water extractions before the Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation, despite facing judicial inquiries.
The judge in charge of the case, Pablo Aragón, asked the prosecutor two weeks ago whether the investigation should continue against Eugenia Martínez de Irujo, the Duchess of Montoro and president of Eurotécnica Agraria. The Prosecutor’s Office is expected to respond that the technical reports support the ongoing investigation. The Civil Guard criticized the profits obtained by the landowning family through their property in Aznalcázar, which is a 200-hectare estate with orange groves on the outskirts of Doñana.
After questioning three former employees of the estate, the Civil Guard submitted their conclusions to the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office last summer. The prosecutor filed a lawsuit against Eurotécnica Agraria, and the magistrate then summoned Eugenia Martínez de Irujo for questioning. However, the company requested that her nephew, Luis Martínez de Irujo, be declared as the one under investigation. The judge did not respond to this request, leaving it pending the results of expert reports. Therefore, for now, the Duchess of Montoro remains under investigation.
The prosecution believes that the eight wells have allegedly damaged the Aljarafe Sur groundwater mass for at least a decade. The Prosecutor’s Office estimates that the unauthorized irrigation activities consumed 305,851 cubic meters of water and cost €36,702 during the last orange harvesting season. This alleged water theft would amount to three million cubic meters over the past decade.
One of the clandestine wells on the Aljóbar estate in Seville, hidden under a green mesh to avoid detection. Last week, the Alba family’s lawyer visited the estate to request the reopening of the wells to the Confederation, in a confrontation with Ecologistas en Acción, who had reported the irregular extractions. Ecologistas en Acción has expressed concern over the process of legalizing the wells despite ongoing police investigations.
In October, the judge ordered the Civil Guard to seal the wells, but this spring, Eurotécnica Agraria requested the unsealing based on a preliminary report from the Confederation’s Hydrological Planning Office. The judge lifted the precautionary measures a month ago, stating that the Aljarafe Sur groundwater was in good condition according to the Hydrological Plan. However, the Civil Guard sergeant warned the estate owners not to use the unsealed wells without all the necessary authorizations.
Despite being involved in the process, Ecologistas en Acción could not appeal the judge’s decision regarding the unsealing of the wells, leading to concerns about a lack of transparency in the legal proceedings.
The Aljóbar estate was authorized to use two wells but was allegedly irrigating with eight, as admitted by Alfonso Martínez de Irujo, who manages the estate with his son Luis. After the employees’ complaints, the estate shifted its focus to citrus and olive cultivation, consuming less water than the high-quality oranges previously grown.
Former employees revealed that none of the sealed wells had flow meters, were covered with green tarps to avoid satellite detection, and filled the reservoir more than authorized. The reorganization plan for irrigation includes installing flow meters and reporting water volumes to the water authority annually.
After a year of investigations, the Prosecutor’s Office is awaiting further expert reports to confirm the environmental crime of damaging the affected aquifer’s quality.
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