First meeting between the representatives of defense groups of the Mar Menor and the Minister of the EnvironmentUniversities, Research and Mar Menor, and his team, made up of the Secretary General, Enrique Ujaldón, the Autonomous Secretary of Energy, Sustainability and Climate Action, María Cruz Ferreira, and the General Director of Mar Menor, Víctor R. Serrano.
This occurs after many months of almost total rupture of dialogue with the previous management team, and represents the beginning of a new stage in the relations between the Ministry and the groups. The organizations thanked the Director Juan María Vázquez and his team the good disposition and the cordial atmosphere with which this first meeting has taken place, which is what marks democratic normality.
From the defense groups of Mar Menor Emphasis was placed on the main demands that are included in the “Decalogue for the Mar Menor”, among which the necessary measures stood out to reduce the contributions of agricultural nitrates to the aquifer and the lagoon ecosystem, since the Nitrates Directive is currently not complied with. Also, the control of pollution from livestock origin, the essential Territorial Planning Plan, and the renaturalization of the catchment basin.
In this sense, they made reference to the breaches of Law 3/2020, which were already reported in 2022.[2], and many of the main and most necessary ones remain unfulfilled today. For his part, the Counselor and his team alluded to the difficulty of developing some measures such as the Territorial Planning Plan, or the work of inspection and processing of sanctioning files, for which they have expanded the workforce.
Some progress in achieving the objectives set out in its decalogue was recognized and appreciated by the groups, such as the recent creation of the Inter-administrative Commission, in which the three levels of the administration will be coordinated. But they also criticized the slowness in applying urgent measures to reduce the pollution that reaches the Mar Menoror that impactful measures continue to be carried out, such as the rolling up of sand on artificial beaches, with heavy machinery.
Another aspect that generates discomfort in the groups, and that was transferred to the Ministry’s team even though it is not its direct responsibility, is the recent report from the Ministry of Development that ensures that marinas do not affect the coastal dynamics, when there is evidence in different previous reports that assure the opposite, and the effect of said ports is evident at a glance.
To conclude this first meeting, Counselor Vázquez and his team committed to drawing up a roadmap, with an Action Plan in which to identify the necessary actions and prioritize them. The defense groups of Mar Menor They consider it positive that there is a Action plansince it will serve to specify commitments and verify progress in future meetings, and they proposed that it be aimed at accelerating compliance with delays and non-compliance with Law 3/2020 and other regulations.
Groups that have expressed their concerns at the meeting:
- Mar Menor Alliance Association AMARME
- Black Flags Collective
- Yayoflautas and Black Flags
- Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Cartagena and Region, FAVCAC
- Citizen platform “Pact for the Mar Menor”
- GREENPEACE
- Ecologists in Action of the Murcia Region
- SEO/BirdLife