Joe Duggan (Reporter)
A THIRD of Spain’s most polluted places are in Andalucia, a shocking new study shows.
Puerto Real is the most polluted place in the country, while La Linea comes third, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) report.
Gibraltar meanwhile, has been exposed as the UK’s most polluted town, faring even worse than La Linea for pollution.
The effect of pollution from the Campo de Gibraltar is said to spread as far as Estepona.
In total, 12 towns and cities in the region, including Sevilla, Motril and Cuevas de Almanzora, breach WHO safety levels for PM10 and PM2 particles, which penetrate deep into the lungs.
Raquel Neco, from green group Verdemar-Ecologistas en Acción, described the report, undertaken over five years, as being ‘very worrying’.
“Citizens in the Campo de Gibraltar, in particular, are being exposed to large quantities of particles and the Junta shows no interest in reducing these levels,” she said.
“We are all breathing a molotov cocktail of contaminants and people need to know about it.”
Funny how all the Spanish quality of life reports omitted mention of this.
There is no doubting the toxic effects from the Algeciras smokestacks. But in some ways (in this particular area) another factor comes into play. The Straits of Gibraltar and the whole area of ocean in that part of the world, is host to massive shipping movements. Ships burn the dirtiest fuel imaginable, pumping it out for the prevailing winds to spread it across the areas of land mentioned here.
Of course, that doesn’t apply to the inland cities, like Sevilla. Their problems are mainly down to transport fumes, specifically, diesel. (Same poison, different form)
It would be interesting to know whether Huelva is another dirty city on this list. Their old fashioned petrochemical industry smokes close aside the strawberry fields, from where the untasty strawberries are delivered into every supermarket in the EU. May be, I have to apologize for my allegation of the absence of taste, as these strawberries may contain enough pollution from the Huelva industry?