Wetland ‘pillaged’ by builder
A COMPANY building an urbanisation near the Clot de Galvany in Elche has been accused of allegedly illegally extracting water from the nature reserve.
Members of the friends of the south Alicante wetlands association (AHSA) claim water from an aquifer was used to compact the new road surfaces in the housing estate.
They sent photos of a freshly dug hole and a hose used to fill tankers with details of the location to the Guardia Civil environmental service.
AHSA says this not only violates legislation for extracting water, but is also an environmental offence for taking water away from a protected wetland which already has problems because its basin was altered by construction of housing in the north of the Sierra de Santa Pola. The Guardia Civil have since stopped the water being extracted and filled in the hole.
AHSA added that the developer of this area, known as Torre Brisó, demolished a 17th century watchtower and attached farmhouse in 1997, and then filled in an adjacent salt marsh with rubble ‘to try to erase any evidence of the wetland’s existence’.
After that the project was modified and it obtained permission to increase the number of houses from 1,160 to 1,800.
“This was one of the most shameful chapters in the destruction of south Alicante’s environmental and cultural heritage,” they said. “This has been added to 20 years later with another episode showing the land is being pillaged.”