Walter Finch
THE Spanish government has snubbed an environmentalist complaint against Gibraltar’s Eastside land reclamation project.
A denuncia filed by Verdemar Ecologistas en Accion on October 10 has gone unanswered by Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares.
“Land continues to be gained from the sea with the Eastside project, and the silence of the Junta de Andalucia and the Government of Spain is quite suspicious,” the group told the Olive Press.
“We have been waiting for a reply from Mr Albares for more than a month, and the wait is becoming quite long for us.”
Gibraltar has imported almost 50,000 tons of rock dug up from quarries in Spain, according to the group, which they claim is damaging protected habitats and archeological sites.
“Not only is the Eastern Strait conservation zone being affected, but also the Sierra de la Utrera, the Manilva River and its habitats protected by European legislation, such as the Hedionda baths, are in danger,” the group complained.
“There are important archaeological sites that show the presence of communities in the area during the Lower Paleolithic, more than 200,000 years ago.
“There are at least 92 caves, 23 of which show human occupation, with traces of the Mesolithic and Neolithic ages, as well as representations of rock art, which is why the Hediondas Underground System was declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 2014.
“In the area of ??the Torcal there is also the archaeological site of Villavieja, occupied since the 2nd millennium BC, whose populations maintained contact with the first Phoenician sailors who came to settle in this area of ??the Mediterranean.
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The land reclamation project, being carried out by the TNG Global Foundation (TNG) group of companies, will see a €340 million marina built on Rock’s eastern flank.
The development, which will feature offices, luxury apartments and hotels, a commercial zone and parkland is expected to inject €1 billion into Gibraltar’s economy.
The Gibraltar government told the Olive Press in October that ‘the reclamation on the Eastside was approved by the EU Commission at the time we were members of the EU.’
It added that ‘all reclamation projects done by Gibraltar in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters comply with all international and EU rules.’
Gibraltar’s Port Authority announced last week that it had established a maritime exclusion zone around the Eastside project.
The authority has deployed four special yellow-flash marker buoys surrounding two silt curtains, effectively blocking all maritime traffic from the development site.
Philip Mandleberg, VTS Manager at the GPA, said: “The exclusion zone is strictly off-limits to anyone not directly involved in the works.”
