A human chain as a sign of sadness and anger. This Saturday gigantic lines of inhabitants holding hands and joined by tourists, formed along the beach of Alcazares. It is on these shores of the Minor Sea, a salt lagoon in the south-east of Spain, that tons of fish have died as a result of pollution from agricultural nitrates.
Esto es impresionante. El Mar Menor es de la gente. #SOSMarMenor #AbracemosAlMarMenor pic.twitter.com/oVqLUgRSeC
– Juanjo Angosto (@Jjangosto) August 28, 2021
“It was a demonstration of mourning for the death of animals … we wanted people to ask them in one way or another for forgiveness for the barbarity we inflicted on them,” Jesus Cutillas told AFP. , one of the organizers, who estimates the number of participants at 70,000. “For days, we have witnessed the death of millions and millions of fish and see all these unnecessary deaths hurts,” he said.
The objective of this action was to “show our determination so that this never happens again”, he explained. Many participants were in black while others held up signs with the inscription: “SOS Mar Menor”. According to scientists, the main cause of the lack of oxygen is the arrival in the lagoon of hundreds of tons of nitrates used as fertilizers by intensive agriculture, which promote the growth of algae suffocating the aquatic ecosystem, a phenomenon called eutrophication.
More than 15 tonnes of dead fish and biomass collected
On Monday, the seventh day of the massacre, regional officials said 4.5 to 5 tonnes of fish had been recovered, but on Saturday the amount of fish and seaweed collected stood at 15 tonnes.
“The 15 tonnes of dead fish and biomass (removed from the shore) shows that this is truly an environmental disaster and an emergency. We need immediate help for the ecosystem, ”the mayor of the neighboring city of Cartagena Noelia Arroyo said in a tweet.
The Minister of Ecological Transition, the Socialist Teresa Ribera, who visited the site on Wednesday, accused the regional government, in the hands of the Popular Party (right), of turning a blind eye to illegal agricultural practices in the plain of Cartagena (Campo de Cartagena), a large area of intensive agriculture.
Farmers’ organizations claim that they strictly adhere to environmental legislation.