ETIAS TRAVEL TRIBULATION

Confusion reigns over new ETIAS visa requirements for Brits entering Spain

By Walter Finch

NEW travel requirements for entering Spain have sparked confusion over who it affects and when they actually start.

The introduction of the new ETIAS regime, as it is known, will complicate the visa-free entry to the EU Brits have enjoyed since freedom of movement ended in 2020.

Initially it was feared the system came in this month, prompting confusion among travellers about what they needed to comply with.

But last week, the EU confirmed that ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorisation System) would not come into effect until ‘later in the year’.

Initially insisting May, the European Commission’s Department for Migration and Home Affairs now states it will not start until November.

Permission

IT was described as ‘the first and only solar extracting and pumping station in Europe’ and, from the moment it was operational, it was a game-changer.

The village of Godelleta was rightfully proud when it was selected in 2016 as the trial site for an innovative sun-powered system to pump and distribute water for irrigation.

The local agricultural community witnessed some remarkable improvements and, with water being used more efficiently, the citrus, olive, and vine yields improved and job opportunities increased as a result. Thanks to batteries, the pump systems were able to operate at night and even on cloudy days, and, by reducing the village’s reliance on non-renewable energy sources, carbon emissions were reduced. It was a win-win scenario . . . until now.

The electricity powers a control panel and pump, sunk into a water source, which could be anything from a river to a well.

Water is then transported along a ditch or pipe, or, in Godelleta’s case, an ancient system of acequias (canals) first installed by the Moors.

The plan is to increase the number of solar panels to 91,000

The delivery is preset depending on irrigation requirements – it might be drip method, full flow or half flow, for example. A timer, and water pressure, level and volume, can also be preset. Godelleta is perched on the flat table of land above the citrus farms some 40km from the city of Valencia, and below the olive groves and vineyards on the higher land to the west towards Cuenca.

The dynamics of a solar pumping system are both pioneering and simple. Photovoltaic panels convert sunlight into electricity.

The town’s farmers are able to produce the crops grown in both areas (oranges comprise 40% of the total, grapes another 40%, the rest dominated by olives and persimmon), and the solar extraction system has been able to handle the varying irrigation requirements. For the most part, the community has been happy with it, and proud to be a