Spain concerned over German call for strawberry boycott

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - A German call to boycott Spanish strawberries threatens to harm Spain's reputation and agricultural sector, the country's economy minister said on Monday.

Activist platform Campact in Germany has spearheaded the campaign, urging supermarkets to stop purchasing what they are calling "drought-strawberries," which are cultivated near Spain's Donana wetlands. Donana, a unique UNESCO World Heritage Site, has seen significant water depletion, partially due to illegal water usage for intensive agriculture.

"To be frank, I saw something like this coming … we have been worried about this from the very beginning," said Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino, slamming Andalusia's regional conservative government for considering plans to legalize more farmland around the threatened ecosystem.

By Monday morning, the boycott campaign has garnered support from over 160,000 signatories. It demands that supermarkets cease purchasing these strawberries "until the Andalusian government ensures the sustainable use of water" in the province of Huelva.

While Spain's central government accuses the regional government of "irresponsibly" worsening the environmental disaster in the drought-afflicted wetlands, some local farmers point their fingers at Madrid.

On Friday, major agricultural organization ASAJA demanded the resignation of Environment Minister Teresa Rivera, accusing her of backing the German boycott.

"The primary duty of any government is to stand by its citizens," the ASAJA statement read, maintaining that Huelva's strawberries are cultivated sustainably.

On Monday, Rivera reiterated that preserving the Donana wetlands is "an issue of utmost importance" to both Europeans and Spaniards. She criticized the Andalusian government's proposal to sanction additional farmland, stating that it was done "without consensus and without adherence to scientific evidence."

As Spain approaches general elections in July, the future of the wetlands and surrounding agriculture promises will be a pivotal issue.