FREE! COSTA BLANCA SOUTH
Salt of the city COUNCILLOR Fanny Serrano has announced that subject to one outstanding process being completed, authorised visits to the famous salt flats of Las Salinas de To r r e v i e j a will take place. Following the green light being given from the Valencian governm e n t , i t ’s a n t i c i pated that the tours may well begin in time for the busy summer season. Serrano said that both local people and visitors to the area will be able to enj o y o n e o f To r r e vieja’s most iconic and traditional industries.
For daily news online www.rtnnewspaper.com
Issue 964
13th - 19th April
Murcia whale died from gastric shock by Darren Parmenter REGIONAL government authorities in Murcia have said that the sperm whale washed up off the coast at the end of February died as a result of ingesting 29 kilos (64lbs) of plastic waste products. According to an autopsy, the young male was killed by gastric shock and the investigations revealed his stomach and intestines to contain rubbish such as plastic bags, raffia sacks, pieces of nets and ropes and even a plastic petrol can. The whale, which measured almost 10 metres (33 feet) in length and weighed more than six tons, was found dead on a beach in Cabo de Palos, Murcia, around six weeks ago. The shocking discovery of the mammal’s cause of death has prompted the region’s government to launch a campaign to fight against the dumping of plastic waste in the ocean. Consuelo Rosauro, the director-general for the natural environment in the Murcian gov-
INSIDE THIS WEEK ... PUB CRAWLERS ON THE RUN
Photo credit: Murcia Regional Government
P4
WASTE: Sperm whale on the Cabo de Palos had a stomach full of plastic. ernment, said that pollution from plastic waste had become one of the biggest threats to global marine life in the last decade. “Many animals get trapped in the rubbish or ingest great quantities of plastic which cause their death,” she said.
“The presence of plastics in seas and oceans is one of the greatest threats to the conservation of wildlife throughout the world, since many animals are trapped in the trash or ingest large amounts of plastics that end up causing their death.”
DROWNING IN PLASTIC
P6 BLUE SHARK CAUSES DOCK PANIC
P16