Coexistence under the sun of Totana

It is hot. We are in Totana, in the heart of Murcia, in the Bajo Guadalentín district. It is a market garden and livestock area, but above all an area with a great deal of sun.

From the ground emanates the mist that causes the asphalt's heat, but as you enter via dirt roads, this feeling of oppressive sunniness eases, while in the background the sound of crickets can be heard But we are not in the middle of the countryside, we are approaching a solar plant.

Ahead there are photovoltaic panels, but it comes as a surprise to see the pointed leaves of aloe vera plants poking out between them and numerous birds flying above our heads.

Jose Enrique greets us. He is waiting for the agronomy technicians and biologists who tend to these plantations between solar panels. He is an engineer and never imagined that his work would be so linked to the primary sector, because the management of this solar plant goes way beyond its technical supervision. Agronomists, biologists, shepherds and avian researchers are frequent visitors here, an authentic example of the coexistence of all these disciplines under the sun of Totana.

Surprisingly, the aloe vera grows almost waist-high. "I am not an expert, but by living with these plants and listening to the technicians, I have realised that the shadow cast by the panels helps them", he explains while pointing to the same crop in an area without solar panels. "As you can see, they are smaller there; they are struggling to cope with the sun".

The technicians have arrived, but they go directly to a plant that is climbing between the inverters, the metal skeleton on which the panels rest. It is dragon fruit. "We are conducting experimental research to see how the plant can benefit from being in a dry and sunny climate, but under the continuous shade of a solar panel", Jose Enrique explains while experts skilfully handle temperature measuring devices and fix the branches of this species of cactus.

Next to it there is a kind of small shrub that catches the eye because it is clearly something that has been planted by a human. “There's no need to look so surprised, it's the truffle of the desert”, says Jose Enrique, explaining that it is a species of mushroom whose cultivation is ideal for this area's almost desert climate.

As we walk between the panels, Juan Pedro appears, crook in hand, shepherding his sheep through the facility. He stops to speak to Jose Enrique. Juan Pedro became a shepherd at the age of 14 and has spent his entire life doing this job. Now, aged 50, he feels perfectly at ease taking his sheep to Jose Enrique's plant. "Solar plants are enclosed, with no pesticides, and they are protected, so you feel confident that your livestock will not be stolen and that the food they eat is good", says this shepherd with skin tanned dark by the sun of Totana.

But the benefit is mutual, because grass grows in solar plants and Juan Pedro's sheep are perfect "machines" for the natural clearing of the land. "Here we all live together," the pair remark as they walk towards an eight-hectare esplanade that has been created for the recovery of flora in the area and that is enabling numerous animals to return. Hence the birds that were flying over our heads when we arrived.

"When I come to work my children ask me what animal I have seen." Here you can see stone curlews, black-bellied sandgrouse, European rollers and birds of prey such as Montagu's harriers, sparrowhawks and eagles. Among the vegetation of this area you can see nesting houses prepared to encourage the return of a bird that had disappeared due to the intensive use of the soil. Now they are flying over the panels of Totana, while the plants between the panels continue to grow.