“Before 2016 the estimated population of fan mussels – large bivalve mollusks on the verge of extinction – was more than one million; after 2016, there were between 3,000 and 4,000, and now there are even fewer,” adds Giménez Casalduero.In April 2019, officers from the Civil Guard entered 67 agricultural properties in Campo de Cartagena with helicopter back-up to carry out inspections.
In the popular summer resort of La Manga del Mar Menor, in front of apartment blocks and street cafés that sit empty and shuttered at this time of the year, a diver disappears into the depths of the lagoon. “He saw how excessive greed had destroyed a paradise. By building a sewage system and treatment plants. Her name is Francisca Giménez Casalduero and she is a researcher at the University of Alicante who has been taking samples in this wetland for the last 28 years. Die durchschnittliche Wassertiefe beträgt 2,5 m, die maximale 6,5 m. Mit einem Salzanteil von 42 bis 47 g/l (der höchste Wert Europas) werden dem Wasser heilende therapeutische Wirkungen zugesprochen.
Die Winter sind relativ mild, da in den kältesten Monaten die Temperaturen im Schnitt nicht unter 10 °C sinken. Standing here on a recent February day, and despite the clear waters, the biologist delivers a shocking diagnosis: “At a depth of below three meters, the lagoon is absolutely dead; there is nothing. “The irrigation techniques used in Campo de Cartagena are among the most advanced in the world,” he says. Die Stiftung Warentest hat 31 Medium-Wässer untersucht. According to José Luis Domínguez, author of several books on the history of La Manga’s development, that was when everything went crazy and every last square meter between the two bodies of water was sealed with concrete and brick. The most shocking aspect of this operation is that several of these facilities were hidden underground.
Der Name La Manga del Mar Menor ist eine zusammengesetzte Landschaftsbezeichnung bestehend aus der Landzunge La Manga (dt. When this reporter visited the spot some years back, the resort had become a ghost town. Because there was still not enough water for everyone, many farmers began to extract poor-quality water from illegal wells that tapped underground aquifers, and then resorted to small desalination plants, which number around 1,000 and almost all of which lack a license and an environmental impact certificate.But what is pumped out is not only salty, it is also contaminated, so when the salt is removed, the resulting brine is loaded with nutrients. And then came the September storm that flooded Los Alcázares. The operation, codenamed Chandos, was linked to a case opened in 2017 by Murcia’s senior prosecutor, José Luis Díaz Manzanera, to investigate the degradation of the Mar Menor.Thirty-five illegal wells and 38 unauthorized plants to treat brackish water were found and shut down. According to him, far more contaminated water seeps into the Mar Menor from the subsoil than from what runs off the surface.
Recently 55,000 people joined a demonstration in Cartagena calling for urgent measures to stop agricultural runoff and other pollution. “Never mind those of Israel and the United States. In other words, the Mar Menor was already a fish cemetery before the images and videos that were flashed round the world were taken. But that we as farmers are responsible for 85% of the discharge as claimed… I need proof.”Paradoxically, one of the greatest problems of this rain-starved land is the excess of water in the underground Quaternary aquifer. Last October, for the first time, the CHS reported at least 9,500 hectares in the Campo de Cartagena that had no irrigation concession.“We are not criminals,” says Manuel Martínez, president of the Campo de Cartagena Irrigation Association. Viele Hochhäuser stehen fast leer, das mit dem Geld verdienen der Spanier hat auch nicht geklappt . They shut themselves away in their houses, and keep the windows firmly shut to protect themselves from the flies and the stench.Twenty percent of the horticultural products that Spain exports to other countries come from this region of Murcia, including lettuce, melons, broccoli, oranges and peppersThe biologist Francisca Giménez Casalduero takes samples from the Mar Menor. Mar Menor mit einem Umfang von 73 km und einer Fläche von rund 170 km² ist das größte salzhaltige Binnengewässer Europas. “They are ruining us, because the [profit] margins are getting smaller and smaller,” he says. Wasser zum Trinken oder Kochen deshalb immer erst mal so lange laufen lassen, bis es kühl aus dem Hahn kommt. Representing 9,800 farmers in the area, Martínez is particularly upset with a report on the Mar Menor crisis that aired on German television just as the agricultural fair Fruit Logistica 2020 was kicking off in Berlin. Learn more. The Segura Water Authority (CHS) built a network of pipes with public money that the farmers could use to get rid of the brine from these desalination plants. Durch die Lage zwischen Binnensee und Meer ist La Manga auch ein bekannter Ort für Wassersport. Aluminium Bauern Gers Landwirtschaft Nitrate Pestizide Beitrags-Navigation. At the time, this place was a practically a wilderness. This made way for the yachts, but also for the seawater, completely altering the lagoon’s ecosystem. “I’m not a sentimental type, but I felt like crying,” he says. Auch wird Tauchsport um Die rund 44 km langen Strände unterscheiden sich auf der einen Seite durch die Salzseestrände des Mar Menors und auf der anderen Seite durch die typischen Strände des Mittelmeeres. : kleineres Meer). But the Mar Menor is also a stark example of how contempt for the environment can backfire.
He used to enjoy water-skiing there but he now he rejects the idea that land irrigation is to blame for what is happening in the lagoon. Autoplay When autoplay is enabled, a suggested video will automatically play next. “It doesn’t just happen here, there are many aquifers in agricultural areas across the country that are contaminated with nitrates,” says José Luis García Aróstegui, a scientific researcher specializing in aquifers with the Spanish Geological and Mining Institute. “Sometimes we would feel adventurous and take a rickety old boat and go to one of the islands.