Ecologists highlight coastal damage

PALMA
ECOLOGISTS in Action, together with the environmental group GOB have presented their campaign “Black Flags 2007”, which aims to highlight the environmental damage being done to the Mediterranean coast, and also the overfishing of red tuna.

This was announced in Palma by the President of GOB, Macia Blazquez, and the coordinator of Ecologists in Action, Jorge Saez. The two men spoke in detail about the existing degradation on the Mediterranean coastline.

Blazquez said that the campaign, which is being carried out throughout all of the Mediterranean and has now reached the Balearics, has as its objective “calling society's attention to the destruction of the coastline and overfishing, especially of red tuna species”.

Blazquez said that in the Balearics they have given up to 40 “black flags” to places such as Ses Covetes, Ses Fontanelles and Port Adriano, amongst others, “which highlights the existing dangerous situation and the further destruction of the Balearic coast due to the proliferation of construction”.

Both organisations are carrying out the campaign using the ship Diosa Maat, on which they have sailed along the coasts of Andalucia, Murcia, Valencia, the Balearics and Catalonia, examining the state of them.

The campaign includes two exhibitions on board the Diosa Maat, which is anchored in the Muelle de las Golondrinas in Palma, and the distribution of a report which was produced in collaboration with GOB.

This report says that the Mediterranean coast “is the most damaged in Spain, it is much worse than the Cantabrian or Canary Islands coastline”, according to Blazquez.

Saez also said that the state of the water in the Balearics “left a lot to be desired”. With regard to this he highlighted that there are a total of 56 sewage farms on Majorca, of which just 11 have total water treatment facilities and, of these, only six reuse water.

Speaking about the campaign against the overfishing of red tuna, he said that the Balearics plays an important role in this, as the islands are the main breeding area in the western Mediterranean and the world's main fishing ground for red tuna.

In the chapter of the report dedicated to the Balearics, both organisations detailed the building activities which are having a serious impact on the Balearic coast.

They described the Calvia area as “the greatest offender for this” due to its “short term orientation, based on an unlimited increase in building”.
In this area they said they awarded “black flags” (for extreme building projects) to the project to reform the Barcelo hotel, situated in Cala Vinyes, and the project for the construction of 3'000 new tourist and residential places and a shopping and leisure centre in La Marina in Magalluf.

They also awarded a “black flag” to the project for the extension of Port Adriano.