Teresa Ribera, Spain’s minister for ecological transition and demographic challenge, visited El Mar Menor (‘The Little Sea’) last week to announce the additional funding, which represents an increase of 26.7 per cent. Overall, the Spanish government has committed to investing €484m by 2026.
The degradation of the 135km2 coastal saltwater lagoon in Murcia made international headlines in 2016 when extreme eutrophication led to thousands of dead fish and crustaceans being washed on up on shore.
Two more mass die-offs took place in 2019 and 2021, with algae blooms turning the water green. These blooms block sunlight and reduce oxygen in the water, making it difficult for aquatic life to survive.
El Mar Menor is a protected EU site under the Ramsar wetlands convention, but runoff rich in fertiliser from decades of intensive agriculture has drained into the lagoon, leading to the algae blooms.
Illegal irrigation, mining and a huge expansion in tourism since...