Getting to grips with Spain often involves disentangling a massive knot\nof contradictions and the contamination of the Mar Menor and the destruction\nand flooding of properties and seafronts is a perfect example.
\nWhile ecologists blame savage urbanization and intensive farming for both\nunnatural disasters, the regional government of Murcia is striving to defend\nfarmers, launch an aggressive advertising campaign to attract tourism and pass\nthe buck onto central government.
\nCaught in the middle of all this political wrangling is a sea, which is not a\nsea at all, but a lagoon 22 kilometres long and, at points, just100 metres\nwide, separated from the Mediterranean by a cordon of land 22 kilometres long.\nIt is a unique saltwater ecosystem, popular with tourists, which is seriously\nin danger.
\nThe coast of Mar Menor stretches from La Manga to San Javier, taking in the\nironically named Mar de Cristal, and the flood ridden Los Alcazares. It is\ncurrently pea green.
\nDespite assurances from the regional government that, regardless of its\nunpleasant appearance, the lagoon is free of bacteria and \u201cperfect for bathing\u201d\nthe general consensus amongst ecologists and biologists is that without swift\naction to rectify the situation it will die.
\nThe beginning, and the beginning of the end, of the story of Mar Menor, dates\nback to the dictatorship, when the lawyer, Tom\u00e1s Maestre Aznar, became the\nowner of the stretch of sand: wild and untouched by human hand and apparently\nworthless, between the lagoon and the Mediterranean.
\nThanks to his contacts with Franco the area became one of the places chosen by\nthe regime for a new industry: tourism and a Catalan architect, Antonio Bonet,\nwas charged with transforming this magical place in the middle of nowhere into\na luxurious tourist destination for foreign visitors.
\nThis stretch of idyllic coast has been the subject of uncontrolled urbanization\nfor decades and this and intensive farming along the coast dumping nitrates\ninto the lagoon have combined to collapse the ecosystem.
\nApart from human sewerage being filtered into the lagoon and the increased\npressure from tourism, something else had a very special effect on the lagoon\nbetween 1974 and 1975.
\nIn order that larger boats could enter the port Tomas Maestre, the Canal del\nEstacio, one of the points between the wetlands and the Mediterranean, was expanded\nto facilitate large, luxury yachts. However, it also opened the door for the Mediterranean\nto enter, totally changing the nature of the lagoon forever.
\nAt the same time another huge project transformed farming on agricultural land\naround Cartagena and along the banks of the lagoon: the Travase Tajo-Segura\n(transfer of water from the river Tajo to the river Segura).
\nThanks to the transfer fields which were once \u201csecano\u201d (dry without irrigation\nwater) were suddenly cultivable, and as fertilizers were added to the\nirrigation water, nitrates seeped into the lagoon causing alga to grow on the\nsurface and a type of grass (Caulpera) to grow on the bottom of the lagoon.\nAccording to some experts at a depth of three metres the lagoon is completely\ndead.
\nEven with the water transfer from the river Tajo there was never enough water\nfor the intensive farming methods in the land around Cartagena and in April\n2019 the Guardia Civil used a helicopter to enter and inspect 67 farms around\nCartagena. They sealed off 35 illegal wells and 38 unauthorized desalination\nplants for treating saltwater. During the process of eliminating the salt from\nseawater, brackish waste water full of nutrients is produced and pumped back\ninto the lagoon along with the excess irrigation water, also full of nutrients.
\nThe intensive farming and the uncontrolled urbanization of the coastline,\nincluding on wetlands and areas vulnerable to flooding, have direct\nimplications on the flooding of seaside properties and the destruction of\nseafronts.
\nThe licences for the construction of hotels, apartment blocks, private housing,\ngolf courses and other tourist projects are in the hands of the regional\nauthority, not the national government, and have been issued in spite of laws\nrequiring wetlands, flood zones and beach areas to be respected.
\nFurthermore, the Regional Autonomous Government of Murcia is not complying with\nits legal obligation to guarantee and respect wetlands and flood risk areas by eliminating\nhousing and infrastructures situated in these zones or by prohibiting further\nurbanization.
\nThe increasing catastrophic flooding experienced in Los Alcazares, San Javier\nand various other points on the coast of Mar Menor, has affected populations\nliving on wetlands, seafronts and in other areas vulnerable to flooding, often\ndue to the destruction of natural barriers such as sand dunes to accommodate seaside\nwalks or seafront properties.
\nIn September 2019 residents of the coast, along with the rest of Murcia and the\nsouth of Alicante, experienced catastrophic, torrential rain (DANA or Gota\nFr\u00efa) with as much as 450 litres por square metre of rainfall in 48 hours. The\nresulting flooding causing eight deaths and 700 people had to be rescued by\nemergency services.
\nA month later the residents of the northern coastline of Mar Menor woke up to\nfind thousands of dead and dying fish floating at the water\u00b4s edge and washed\nup on the beach. Within three days some three tons of rotting fish and\ncrustaceans were collected from the beaches.
\nAnalysis confirmed death was for anoxemia (lack of oxygen). The waters of the\nMar Menor presented an ecosystem which was clinically dead.
\nThe regional government and many regional institutions blamed the weather.
\nAccording to the Spanish Institute of Oceanography the\nstorms unloaded 60 cubic hectometers of water which poured 100,000 tons of mud\nand debris into the Mar Menor. This freshwater also contained 400 to 1,000 tons\nof nitrates, more than 100 tons of phosphates and 35 tons of ammonium and heavy\nmetals from ancient abandoned mines. This lethal cocktail of contamination was later\nidentified as the principal cause of the death of the fish.
\nHowever, when the Mar Menor received this contaminated flood of freshwater it was\nalready contaminated by an excessive wealth of nutrients, principally from\nfertilizers and sewerage. These facilitate dense growth of plant life, block\nthe light and stop oxygen getting into the water creating a dead zone where no\norganism can survive.
\nPedro Sanchez, President of Spain, muted terminating the water transfer just\nbefore last year\u00b4s General Elections but the suggestion was clearly not a vote\nwinner in Murcia, causing a total mutiny amongst farmers in Cartagena. Nowadays the PSOE\/Podemos Coalition talk more\nabout the need for ecological farming in the zone.
\nThe Autonomous Regional Government has set aside 56 million euros in the budget\nfor the Mar Menor, Measures include some eight million for improved sewerage\nsystems and measures to clean up the lagoon. The government also introduced fines\nof up to 500,000 euros for \u201cgrave offences\u201d by farmers; the prohibition of\nfertilizers on the first 500 metre fringe of the coast; limits to the cycles of\ncultivation in Cartagena and the temporary suspension of new urban developments.\nThe decree also impedes navigation of two stroke engine high speedboats.
\nBiologists, ecologists and the Pact for Mar Menor Platform have rejected the\ndecree as \u201cineffective\u201d full of \u201cridiculous restrictions.\u201d
\nThe same groups have applied to the European Commission to open an infringement\nprocedure specific to the Mar Menor for failing to comply with EU directives,\nwhich may have some success as the EU has already raised their alarm over the\nstate of the lagoon on several occasions.
\nSo where do we go from here? There are desperate\nmeasures afoot in many resorts to get ready for the Easter week tourist trade.\nBeaches, some of which have virtually disappeared, are being rebuilt, and\nseafronts reconstructed. A massive cleanup is underway and the regional\ngovernment have launched an aggressive advertising campaign to convince\ntourists that the resorts of Mar Menor are open for business. Tests seem to\ndemonstrate that, despite its pea green colour, the lagoon is safe for bathers.
\nOf course, we all wish the long suffering populations of these resorts a steady\nrecovery of their livelihoods. But it\nall seems a little short sighted.
\nIf the environmentalists are correct this history of errors seems condemned to\nrepeat itself year after year until there will be absolutely no hope of\nrecovery for this precious lagoon.
\nIntensive farming methods seem likely to continue for the new future.
\nSewerage will continue to be pumped into the sea until the new systems are in\nplace.
\nThe regional authority has only temporarily suspended the issue of building\nlicences.
\nSanchez has no authority over building regulations although he could change the\nlaw to prohibit more building along the coast and oblige the regional\nauthorities to demolish those properties which break current laws.
\nHe could stop the Tajo-Segura Water transfer and put an end to the intensive\nfarming by big business in the \u201cgarden of Murcia\u201d around Cartagena.
\nThe question probably comes down to which option is less unpopular. However, in\nthe end the result could be the same. If the lagoon irrevocably dies there will\nbe no tourist industry on the Mar Menor: just a series of ghost towns and a pea\ngreen lagoon.
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