Spain plans to invest in desalination and water reuse plants to tackle drought

Spain's cabinet on Thursday approved measures worth more than two billion euros to alleviate the impact of a prolonged drought that has hit its key agricultural sector. The bulk of the money, 1.4 billion euros will be earmarked to build new infrastructure, such as desalination plants, to boost the amount of available water, the government said in a statement.

Another 784 million euros will be used to help farmers and ranchers cope with the lack of precipitation which has decimated crops and driven up the cost of livestock feed. The announcement of the aid package comes ahead of regional and local elections on May 28. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government has already urged Brussels to activate the bloc's agriculture crisis reserve to help farmers cope with the exceptional drought.