Spain destroys almost 8 hectares of coastline every day says Greenpeace

According to Greenpeace, Spain is destryoing 7.7 hectares of natural coastline a day after having destroyed over 50,000 hectares of coastline between 1987 and 2005.

The data was released by the environmental protection group Greenpeace at a press conference held in Madrid. The President of Greenpeace Spain said that “the most serious is that this trend is continuing.”

The most affected areas according to Greenpeace include areas such as Benidorm, Marbella, Valencia and Cantabria. The report also condemned the huge El Algarrobico hotel that was built illegally back in 2005 and 2006 in a protected park in Cabo de Gata in the south. The hotel is still standing despite a demolition order issued by the courts.

Greenpeace urged the application and reinforcement of local laws that protect the coastlines, adding that the overbuilding has led to a serious degradation of water quality in the affected regions and while municipalities were still planning to build more housing, hotels and marinas, “the real luxury is not a five star hotel but an unspoilt beach.”

Some of the figures presented by Greenpeace speak for themselves:

The equivalent surface of 8 football fields per day have been destroyed in Spain over the past 20 years.
In some communities more than 75% of the land bordering the sea are urban or developed and nearly 25% of coastal shoreline is artificial.
In 2004, the budget needed to maintain the tourism industry infrastructure (airports, ports, hotels, beaches) exceeded its revenues by 25 per cent.
In 2010, the European Court has sentenced Spain for failing to comply with EU standards on the quality of bathing waters.
More than 300 people, including politicians and businessmen, will be tried in 2010 for corruption or influence peddling.
The report included before and after photos of places such as Marbella from when it was still a fishing village.

Automakers have announced that the sale of private cars in Spain has fallen 50% in 2010 through July. The end of 2000E Plan (€2,000 for your old car to be scraped against a new car purchase) coupled with the rise of VAT, has caused industry insiders to describe the situation as “dramatic”. The automakers association ANFAC, said in a statement, that trading volume returned the sector to “levels of 15 years ago” and they noted that sales will continue to deteriorate due to the sharp cut of 60% in orders registered in recent weeks!

“The collapse of the market, as announced by the sector for the second semester, will result in alarming situations in employment, especially in the networks of dealers,” added the text, prior to noting the “disappearance of many small and medium enterprises.” For this reason, continues the statement, ANFAC has requested an urgent meeting with the Minister of Industry “to discuss proposals and possible solutions to this serious situation.”

The automotive sector has so far accumulated 10 consecutive months of sales increases, although the rate of rise was reduced gradually to 25% in June. Although ANFAC concern focuses on the channel of sales to individuals, they make no reference to the evolution of closed transactions with businesses or rental companies.

One of the worst hit is the Seat car company, who suffered an operating loss of 157 million euros in the first half of 2010, somewhat below the 159 million the company lost in the same period last year. During July, 82,167 cars were registered in Spain. Largest sales went to Seat with 8,816 sales, a few hundred more than Volkswagen and Renault. The most popular model was the Renault Megane with 4,838 sales.

In other transport news, according to El Mundo, the Minister for Development, José Blanco, is reported to be considering a toll for heavy vehicles of 10 cents per kilometre according. Spanish Lorry drivers are themselves considering strike action if they are compelled to pay a toll for using Spanish motorways. Such action would raise three billion a year in Revenue for the Government, which retail associations have noted will result in higher prices for all consumer goods to offset the higher transportation costs.

 

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