ISSUE NO. 1678
31 Aug - 6 Sept 2017
MALLORCA
YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION
Paradise lost Photo credit Facebook
Top beach stripped of Blue Flag By Matthew Elliott One of Mallorca’s top urban beaches lost its Blue Flag due to plastic pollution. Can Pere Antoni beach saw the global symbol of cleanliness and bathing quality withdrawn last week. The international agency which awards Blue Flags, coveted by all of Europe’s best beaches, said it could ‘no longer endorse the quality Can Pere Antoni represents.’ The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) claims to have received numerous complaints this summer from bathers disgusted by visible burned plastics in the water. Blue Flags are a guarantee of the total absence of industrial waste, dumping and other dangerous pollution. Partially burned plastics caused by the use of slag in the expansion of Palma’s port is believed by the FEE to be the culprit. Palma’s ecological council agrees. “Everything indicates that the arrival of semi-burnt plastics to Can Pere Antoni
FLAG DOWN: Can Pere Antoni polluted with industrial slag. is related to the port expansion” it said in a statement. On a positive note, the council argues that the plastics are just passing by and will soon be entirely absent from Palma’s beloved urban beach. Inspectors from environmental and consumer education group Adeac say the water is still of an ‘excellent’ quality and passes all Balearic and European safety tests. Samples of the plastic have been collected so the Balearic executive can prepare a comprehensive report on the
damage. Public prosecutors are now investigating whether the use of slag, waste material taken from the Son Reus incinerator, to expand Palma port, constitutes an environmental crime. Ecological groups, including GOB and Mallorca Blue, believe this to be a serious scandal, representing an untold risk to both marine ecosystems and human health. Use of slag from the Son Reus incinerator has been halted while the investigation is ongoing.
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