The Cultural Center at El Corte Inglés Málaga will host the sixth lecture in the 22nd Encounters with Science series on Friday, April 10th at 7:30 pm. Entitled "Droughts and Subtropical Crops: Fires Extinguished in Winter," Dr. Pablo Jiménez Gavilán, from the University of Málaga, will analyze the recent water crisis in the Axarquía region and its implications for the future of subtropical crops in southern Spain. The event will be introduced by Dr. Enrique Viguera Mínguez, coordinator of the series.

Between 2019 and 2024, the Axarquía region experienced a situation that transcends typical climate variability and has become an essential case study for understanding the viability of a key agricultural sector. The lecture will demonstrate that this crisis is not an isolated incident, but rather the result of decades of activity that demands strategic planning to ensure resilience in the face of global change.

The maxim “fires are extinguished in winter” summarizes the central idea of ​​the talk: resilience is not built in the midst of an emergency, but through structural measures implemented during periods of normal hydrological conditions, such as the present. Dr. Jiménez Gavilán will address the need for a paradigm shift in water and land governance, one that does not depend on the arrival of new rainfall, but rather on the institutional capacity to limit demand, guarantee data transparency, and strengthen water resource monitoring. Without these reforms, the next meteorological drought could lead to an even greater socioeconomic disaster.