Glenn Wickman
THE Spanish government has given the green light to a highly controversial development project for Valencia port.
Plans to extend the northern part of the installations were approved yesterday (Monday April 12) by the national authorities after they decided that the favourable environmental impact report (DIA) issued in 2007 is still valid.
However, several local and regional political parties oppose the extension, which they believe will increase pollution and worsen the already delicate situation faced by the southern part of Valencia’s coastline and the Albufera lake.
Compromis, Podem and Esquerra Unida are joined in their opposition by several ecologist and resident associations, who point out that the approval of the DIA should be revised as the initial project was put on hold for nearly a decade after being approved.
In addition, the original plans were reportedly altered in 2018 and would therefore require a new environmental impact study.
The regional minister for Agriculture, Rural development, Climate emergency and Ecological transition, Mireia Molla, has announced her intention to study the DIA in detail and has denounced the fact that the final project has not yet been made public.
Conversely, the Valencia Region Business Confederation has applauded the national government’s decision to give the green light to a project that they predict will ‘yield important socioeconomic benefits’ for the area.
