I should like to inform the Commission of the indiscriminate cutting-down of trees and extraction of aggregate in an ecologically valuable area in Villanueva de Gómez, which is home to 12 species listed in Annex I to Directive 79/409/EEC(1). One of these species is the Spanish imperial eagle, a species threatened with worldwide extinction. A pair of imperial eagles nests in these pine dunes, raising three chicks a year, and the Autonomous Community has been asked to designate the area as a critical nesting site.

It is planned to build 7500 one-family dwellings with a sports complex including three golf courses on ground currently occupied by 143 inhabitants.

If this project is carried out, it will cause the irreversible destruction of between 700 and 800 hectares of woodland. Both the Adaja and Arevalillo river valleys and all the woodland connected with these rivers and the area between them are exceptional nesting sites for the imperial eagle.

The green light has also been given to more than 30 kilometres of general roads without subjecting them to the environmental impact procedure, in breach of the EIA Directive.

The water authority Confederación Hidrográfica del Duero (referring to compliance with the Water Framework Directive) has refused to supply water to any projects in the area, since there is a serious problem with the supply of drinking water in the district.

There is also the fact that the Los Arenales aquifer is overexploited, and if this situation continues it will lead to the loss of recharge area.

Given that the Environment Ministry of the Government of Castile and Leon is failing to comply with the Birds Directive in relation to its own Decree 144/2003, since this is a critical area but has not been designated as such and has not been included as a special protection area for birds, what concrete steps will the Commission take?

How much Life funding does the Community of Castile and Leon receive for the conservation of the imperial eagle?

What concrete preventive measures will the Commission take in this case in order to protect this species, and thus the Natura 2000 network?

What measures will the Commission take in relation to the overexploitation of the Los Arenales aquifer?

(1) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979, p. 1.