For almost a month, millions of plastic balls have been spilling onto the coasts of Galicia, in the northwest of Spain. The fault lies with a merchant ship which lost a container in the open sea in mid-December.
An “ecological disaster” for environmental NGOs, who deplore the lack of responsiveness of the Spanish government.
“It’s been a month since the accident occurred, and two weeks since we were alerted to the massive arrival of these beads on the beaches. And yet the autonomous government has done nothing. This demonstrates inaction, passivity in the face of the problem. They only act when there is media pressure and mobilization of the population“, explains Cristobal López, spokesperson for the NGO Ecologistas en Acción.
Spanish justice announced Monday the opening of an investigation into this stranding. These plastic granules, used to manufacture everyday products such as water bottles, are particularly dangerous for marine animals. Since the incident, volunteers have mobilized to clean the beaches and coasts of this region, which depends heavily on the fishing industry.
The European Union, which took action last October, has set itself the goal of reducing pollution from plastic pellets by up to 74% by 2030.
Spanish justice announced that it had opened an investigation after the dumping of millions of plastic balls in Galicia a few days ago.