The Spanish state is in an environmental emergency

In the macro farms, the Mar Menor, The hole, El Prat and other ventures show that capitalism prioritizes business profits over life.

Spain suffers a terrible environmental moment. Some of the causes are in the economic model that makes it the vegetable garden of Europe and the third world power in pork production. The government and the food industry face increasing resistance. The situation is reaching more than alarming levels.

Macro Farms of Horror

In Hellin, Albacete, is the most polluting pig macro farm in Spain, with a capacity for 150.000 animals. It is owned by Cefusa, Strong group-The hole, one of the main meat producers. The waste generated by the plant is deposited in basins of 130.000 M3, the size equivalent to 120 olympic pools. It emits a third of the ammonia generated by the chemical factory in Solvay in Torrelavega, the most polluting in the country.

According to the State Registry of Pollutant Emissions and Sources, the Cefusa industrial complex, It is the most polluting livestock farm in terms of methane emissions, a greenhouse gas 25 times more powerful than CO2.

Growing pollution

Spain is the third largest producer of pork in the world, behind EE. THE. and china. From the 2007 Until now the macro farms grew in a 50%,. The figure that will increase due to the large number of projects in execution. Mass animal husbandry facilities are highly polluting for the air, the soil and also the aquifers. They use millions of liters of water and create very few jobs. The problems come from purines of the animals, foul-smelling waste, that can contract pests and multiply infections. Leakages can cause waste to collect with groundwater and contaminate the aquifers that supply populations.. In November 2020 the large amount of slurry dumped caused the water to be cut off in a large part of Santiago de Compostela.

Gains on laws

The environmental problems that the production model brings with it are not only local. They cross municipal boundaries and become a global threat. This is what happens with the ammonia emissions that macro-farms release into the air. Since 2010 a 2019 Spain has not respected the emission limits agreed by European legislation for this corrosive compound for health and the environment. On 2020 the EU made these limits more permissive, but unfortunately at this rate it is anticipated that in 2023 breach the agreement again, despite the fact that the European community gave this help to the sector so that its contamination is within the "legal" frameworks.

In the "emptied Spain"

The places chosen by these companies to settle are located in the so-called "Spain Emptied" with the excuse of counteracting depopulation, but all they do is encourage it. Neighbors are organizing themselves through coordinators and platforms in defense of their environments. As is the case of Yecla (Murcia), where you want to install a macro farm of the Fuertes-El Pozo group two hundred meters from Mount Arabí, a natural heritage declared a world heritage site by UNESCO. The population has organized and has called large demonstrations such as the 11 July 2021 in which they participated between 10.000 Y 12.000 people, for a population of 35.000. Polluting business cases spread across the country, for example, in the Mar Menor and El Prat.

Ecocide

At Mar Menor, the largest saltwater lagoon in Europe, they are causing an ecocide. Between the regional and central governments "they pass the buck" so as not to take charge of the problem. Two weeks ago a massive demonstration called by 185 collectives in the Murcian capital, filled the streets with thousands of people to demand a joint plan and solve this serious problem.

The regional government of López Miras (PP) He complains to the executive of Pedro Sánchez for not having established in the General State Budgets an item destined to the repair of the Mar Menor. The Spanish government responds that the items are included in "The Recovery Plan; Transformation and Resilience ". But the reality, there is nothing specified about how much of those figures will go to the Mar Menor. The only thing that is talked about is the budget line, not of a strategic plan to save the lagoon.

The field, unnecessary enlargement

The El Prat Airport expansion project, in Catalonia, would lead to lengthening the third track to the detriment of the lands of the protected lagoon of La Ricarda within the Natura Network 2000, which is one of the few natural lungs that remain in the Delta del Llobregat. The expansion of the infrastructure and the multiplication of flights would entail an increase in the 33% of annual CO2 emissions, among other serious environmental consequences that are indicated as"A very serious climatic irresponsibility".

The Natural Areas of the Llobregat Delta will be severely affected, including the Agrarian Park. Because, there were large popular mobilizations to prevent enlargement. They should be repeated as the Spanish and Catalan governments try to revive the initiative, momentarily paralyzed.

Popular mobilization and organization

Mobilization and popular organization point the way forward to stop pollution and destruction of the planet. The broadest unity of action is needed to end intensive agriculture, the sanction and prohibition of illegal and polluting irrigation activities, carrying out a project to revegetate areas that were deforested for planting. We must promote and promote the mobilization of the peoples and demand that the government prohibits the creation of new polluting exploitations. In the same way, create a transition plan towards sustainable livestock and reduce the number of livestock.

The State must guarantee all jobs in decent conditions and the need to address the debate on agrarian reform, in order to attack the serious problem of large land holders, who are a privileged minority, exploiters and speculators. It must also respond to emergencies by pouring economic and social resources. It is something that is valid for the cases that we mention in the note and also for La Palma, where the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano causes the destruction of villages and the loss of the homes of many families.

Capitalism, the underlying problem

And the fight goes much further, because the cause of disasters is the capitalist system. An unfair and destructive model, in which everyone declares intentions to save the planet, but they continue to carry out actions and projects that destroy it. The propaganda measures of the European Union for climate change, they are small palliative compared to the magnitude of the disaster caused. Another cynical response from the imperialist bloc, for which business profits are above people's lives. The only way to definitively reverse this situation is to set up a production model that is at the service of the majority and at the same time, take care of our environment and biodiversity. That is to say, a socialist system.

Santi Gonzalez