Environmentalists are warning that many protected coastal areas in Spain are under threat from property development, some of which they claim is illegal.
A new report from international eco campaigners Greenpeace, Destruction at all Coasts 2009, says up to 8,000 kilometres of coast are threatened. It looked at 233 protected areas and found that 120 of them are under threat from construction, pollution or infrastructure.
The report also indicates that the world economic downturn, which has hit the Spanish property market hard, has not, however, acted as a buffer to protect endangered areas as there are some 562,000 properties, 29 golf courses, 51 harbours and 14 commercial centres either under construction or have planning approval in protected areas.
‘Spain’s coastlines have become a cemetery of cement and the last few remaining protected parts are in extreme danger of disappearing,’ said Greenpeace’s director in Spain, Juan Lopez de Uralde.
The report shows that Andalucia, Valencia and the Canaries are the worst. Some 21 areas are under threat in Andalucia including La Albufera Natural Park, Cabo de Gata-Nijar Natural Park and Grandilla.
It also points out that Spain has more legal proceedings open for abuse of the environment than any other country in the European Union.
It describes Spain as being saturated with unsaleable properties with more than a million units empty. ‘The downturn has not stopped anything, in fact it has got worse as the authorities have the philosophy that the coast can support everything,’ said Lopez de Uralde.
Greenpeace wants the Spanish government to tighten the country’s coastal law, to buy up protected land promise to demolish illegal buildings. Pilar Marcos, who is responsible for the Greenpeace coastal campaign in Spain, said that the organisation has noted 625 suspects in 478 cases of planning corruption and that more than half of these suspects hold public office in Spain.
Greenpeace also says that Spain had taken no steps to stop the deterioration of its coastline in recent years and done little to upgrade sanitation infrastructure and water treatment on the coast to keep up with development development needs, Greenpeace said.
‘Local governments get most of their income from taxes and fees associated with building and construction, something which fuels the deterioration of the coastline. Solutions have not been applied by practically any institutions who are more concerned with short term benefit than the kind of future inherited by coming generations,’ the report said.
A spokesman for the Environment Ministry declined to comment.
