Cheaper water for 118 farmers and livestock keepers: €148,000 from the Consorcio

The Consorcio del Agua de Lanzarote has given final approval to €148,139.64 in grants aimed entirely at the island's primary sector. The purpose is single: to bring down the price of water paid by farmers, livestock keepers and producers.

The final resolution was published on Friday in the Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Las Palmas. The grants cover 171 supply accounts, belonging to 118 separate beneficiaries who meet the requirements.

The figure carries more weight than it looks. On Lanzarote water does not fall from the sky: it is desalinated, and desalination costs. For anyone farming on an island where water is an industrial product, the bill is not one line item among others — it is the one that decides whether a crop stands up or not.

The president of the Cabildo and of the Consorcio, Oswaldo Betancort, presented the measure as part of a commitment to farming and livestock — the two trades that have kept the island's agricultural landscape alive, the one visitors photograph at La Geria without realising it is work, not scenery.