On Sunday around fifty people gathered near to the roundabout at Ladera del Mar, on the border between Nerja and Torrox to protest against oil and gas exploration in the mediterranean near to Nerja.
The demonstration was organised by the green political party EQUO who are opposed to the exploration due to the risk it poses “to the flora and fauna in protected environments such as the site of the cliffs of Maro and Cerro Gordo”. EQUO are in favour of the development of clean renewable energy instead.
The Canadian-owned multinational CNWL OIL has been licensed by the national government to prospect for oil and gas. The work will last for approximately one month and will cover an area of 150,000 hectares. The project was approved by the previous government last year, despite the objections of local politicians and environmental groups. The current licenses cover exploration only and not extraction. The company will have to apply to the Government for new licenses to actually extract any oil or gas reserves that they find.
However, EQUO stressed that “this activity will present a high risk to the safety of people and marine life in the event of an accident, and will further impact on a coast already damaged by decades of urban and tourist development and is an obvious risk to a major breeding area for whales in the Mediterranean. “.
Photo Credit: Helmut Wiener
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