Roberto Louzan’s Gallery
As a testament to its beauty, the myth says that when God created the Universe and rested on the seventh day, he placed one of his hands on what is known as the Rías Gallegas on the coast of Galicia. This is one of the planet’s richest ecosystems, currently threatened by mankind. Disasters like the Prestige oil spill occur every 4-5 years, due to the intense marine traffic of hazardous substances (approximately 70.000 vessels per year) in front of the coastline.
Also, the Ría of Pontevedra has been terribly affected by the pollution from the ENCE-ELNOSA paper plant in Placeres, which has been condemned for continuous ecological offenses. All indicates, however, that it will remain where it is until at least 2018.
A 1980´s nuclear landfill, only 630 kilometers from Galicia´s coast, contains an estimated 140.000 tons of radioactive waste (more than three times the energy liberated at Chernobyl) and remains practically unsupervised.
Almost 3% of the state’s forests were burned during the summer of 2006. Wildfires in the region are often provoked by unemployed temporary fire brigadiers.
Dwindling seafood captures, due to illegal over-fishing, is a problem linked to the fact that many coastal towns have dramatically increased their population and dump black waters and industrial residues directly into the ocean.
The Xunta de Galicia (regional government) and the Galician Port Authority have drawn up a plan that includes new aquiculture plants, docks and shopping malls along the shoreline, which will certainly do more harm than good to the local economy as well.
The current Spanish government is quick to point out that they inherited these problems from the years the opposition was in power. They seem to forget that the government as such is not a political party, but an institution, and there must be a sense of continuity - independently of who is in power.
Environmental groups are afraid of raising their voices, for fear that their funds will be cut. Politicians readily acknowledge that if the infringing companies are sanctioned, they will take their business elsewhere, with a resulting loss of votes. Lawyers claim that clients who depend directly on seawater quality to run their businesses will also keep their mouths shut for fear of being targeted by the administration. Fishermen do not publicly complain, since they risk tarnishing the image of the Ría’s seafood quality. The public at large still seems to fear the presence of the feudal shadow of the “Cacique”, a figure that resists dying.
All the above are quickly creating an unsustainable situation.
