Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)By Jane Brooke
MORE than 300 protesters have manned the ski lifts to protest against plans to ‘steal’ more water for artificial snow in the Sierra Nevada.
Organised by Ecologistas en Accion, the group marched against a new dam being constructed high in the national park.
The protesters insist that the project – which is being undertaken to create more water for artificial snow – will seriously deplete the rivers Monachil and Dilar.
“The dam is threatening water supplies for local agriculture and degrading the wonderful Monachil gorge, which is a haven for wildlife and hugely popular for walkers,” explained a spokesman.
The scheme is being undertaken in the run up to the 2015 World Student Winter games, which are taking place at the Pradollano skiing resort.
While it is good for local business, ecologists say it is bad for the park’s fragile environment, which is already in danger from overdevelopment.
They insist that a variety of new schemes are endangering the area. They include 20 km of new ski slopes, chairlifts, a funicular railway and a huge new car park.
There is also a plan for 600 new houses in the so-called ‘Olympic Village’ being built on the outskirts of Granada, at El Serallo.
The protest questioned the legality of the works, and made links with other damaging infrastructure projects, such as Granada’s Eastern Ring Road which threatens the valleys below the Alhambra.
It amusing funny reading about the Sierra Nevada in all the Spanish guides about how great it is for skiing, and yet they need artificial snow. Surely it can’t be that good if it needs fake snow, can it?
FRED HAVE YOU EVER TRIED SKIING…IN ALASKA. SWITZERLAND IN FACT ANYWHERE.. OUT OF OUR WONDERFUL SPAIN..
Nick please read a copy of Lynn Truss’s book Eats shoots and leaves. And stop shouting.
Yes, I have been up to the Sierra Nevada to ski, and it was disappointly low on snow back then, and the facilities were tatty. It’s not going to compete with Switzerland any time in the next few centuries lol.