Black flags for the coast
Mar Menor and Guardamar’s beach houses singled out
THE ANNUAL black flag awards have been issued by the environmental association Ecologistas en Acción for mistreatment of the coastline around Spain.
In the Levante area, Alicante province has got off lightly – but Murcia region has been hammered for the worsening condition of the Mar Menor.
Their biologists noted that the biggest problem facing the seas along the coast is caused by the arrival of untreated water and poor treatment of waste water.
This is one of the reasons for the ‘serious’ problems affecting the Mar Menor, which has been awarded a black flag as ‘its situation continues to get worse as times goes on’.
The environmentalists pointed out that the vast lagoon is one of the principal natural jewels of the region – but also a shining example of ‘terrible management of human activity and planning’.
Intensive farming with pesticides in the Campo de Cartagena area means that during heavy rain these pollutants run into the Mar Menor and cause great damage to the delicate ecosystem.
While 85% of the pollution is caused by agriculture, the remainder comes from ‘lack of treatment of waste water from homes’ which is pumped into the lagoon. They noted that as their report was published the Mar Menor was in ‘the worst condition in its history’.
“Each day that passes without effective measures being taken makes the recovery of this exceptional ecosystem more difficult,” they stated.
They pleaded with the regional and national authorities to ‘coordinate their efforts’ and work arm in arm to put the measures in place to protect the lagoon.
In Alicante province they highlighted the contamination at Playa de San Gabriel in Alicante city. They noted that pollution from the nearby port has led to a large reduction in water quality at the beach.
They also pointed the finger at the water purification station that pumps into the sea at this point, which they claim does not comply with EU legislation.
The ecologists highlighted the poor management of Playa Babilonia in Guardamar del Segura, where beachfront houses have been severely damaged by sea storms. They noted that some of the properties have been there for nearly 100 years and were originally homes for fishermen built with concessions from the government.
They lamented that the national coast department does not have a plan to regenerate the beach, which is mostly unusable due to the rising sea and the poor condition of the tumbledown properties.
“They are simply waiting for time to pass and the waves to destroy the remainder of the houses, which will end up in the sea,” they noted.
The ecologists also had a special mention for January’s Storm Gloria and the ‘serious threat’ that these meteorological events present for beaches and the coastline.
“We have to reflect on whether the answer to these storms is to spend an indecent amount of money on repairing the damage to infrastructure, or if we should begin a new model of management which is better integrated with the natural world,” they stated.
Ecologistas en Acción have been awarding their black flags for 15 years to highlight how the authorities have allowed contamination and poor management of the coastline to continue unabated.