The Civil Guard is investigating a large yacht party that was held in the Mar Menor on the weekend of August 20 and 21 for an alleged crime against the environment.
The Nature Protection Service (Seprona) has initiated investigations by order of the prosecution to see who consented and who is responsible for the concentration of a hundred boats and hundreds of people in the waters surrounding the delicate island of Ciervo, a space of special protection within the delicate interior salty lagoon, which in recent years has suffocated after chaining several ecological disasters.
The Ministry of Ecological Transition accuses the Government of Murcia of having promoted this massive bottle due to its “lack of prior control of the recreational activities that are held in the Mar Menor”.
The party was held two weekends ago, when approximately a hundred yachts and other boats gathered around the Isla del Ciervo del Mar Menor, in the municipality of Cartagena, for a concert and a bottle, organized by a company of maritime events, specialized in this type of boat parties.
The chosen enclave, like the entire maritime space inside La Manga, is protected. The yachts remained anchored for hours.
The Isla del Ciervo (Mar Menor, municipality of @AytoCartagenaES in the @regiondemurcia) is included within the natural space of “Open spaces and islands of the Mar Menor”, protected with the category of natural park and Special Protection Zone for the birds. https://t.co/n9Q82CvCab
– Pablo Rodríguez Ros (@pablorros_) August 22, 2022
The investigation of the party has been revealed by the ministry in a note released this weekend, in which it warns that the file it has opened will end in sanctions in the event that infractions are detected against the environmental protection of the protected space, the maritime safety and the regulation of recreational activities, “since the meeting took place without the corresponding permits and without the corresponding control”.
The statement questions the actions of the Ministry of the Environment of the Government of the Region of Murcia as manager of the protected area of the Mar Menor, since among its tasks is “avoid disturbance to its flora and fauna.
“And he warns that, in order to “consent to a large party” like the one investigated, it was essential to previously inform Costas and the Maritime Captaincy, both dependent on the central government.
In addition, it directly blames the Government headed by the popular Fernando López Miras for the problems that suffocate the Mar Menor:
“The lack of prior control of the recreational activities that take place in Mar Menor by the regional government encourages the excesses that alter the delicate balance of the ecosystem of this protected area and is a serious breach of the provisions of Decree 259/2019, which approved the Comprehensive Management Plan for the protected areas of the Mar Menor and the Mediterranean coastline of the Region of Murcia”.
Seprona has already got to work and is investigating the event company that organized the “naval gathering”, in which the yachts were alongside, which also violates maritime safety regulations, in addition to environmental legislation and of recreational activities.
Isla del Ciervo is a special protection area within the protected area of the Mar Menor. The Congress of Deputies approved last April to start the processing of a law to give legal personality to the Mar Menor and its entire basin, like people or companies.
The Mar Menor collapsed in 2016, when its waters turned into a cloudy liquid, a phenomenon known as the “green soup”. Unbridled urban planning, insufficient sanitation networks and mining were the main culprits.
For this reason, the lagoon suffers from episodes of anoxia (lack of oxygen), the most serious of which occurred in October 2019, when some three tons of fish were removed from the beaches of San Pedro del Pinatar, and in August of last year. , when some 4.5 tons appeared throughout the week in which several beaches had to be closed.