Welcome to the Environment section of tuSPAIN. Over the coming months our contributors will be discussing many aspects of Spanish environmental issues. We wish to encourage participation from our readers therefore please feel free to contact us should you have a particular topic you would like to see discussed. We also welcome articles to be considered for publication, please contact us with your suggestions.

Towards a Green Spain...

Deirdre Nicole Webb-Hicks

Over the past 20 years, Spain's public and private sectors have taken many steps to improve the environment and increase awareness about ecological problems. The latest step has been taken by the newly elected Popular Party (PP) government, lead by President José María Aznar. The new government has established a Ministry of the Environment (Ministerio de Medio Ambiente). The ministry will handle the concerns formerly handled by the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Environment (MOPTMA). In establishing a ministry exclusively for environmental concerns, Spain joins the majority of European Union countries. Some of the offices included under the new ministry will be a Secretary of Waters and Coasts and a Director General of Natural Conservation. Among the primary goals of the ministry are the imposition of a fine for those who dump hazardous waste, seeking ways to reduce the quantity of toxic waste, and increased recycling of toxic materials.

Appointed to head the Ministry of the Environment is Isabel Tocino. She is one of several female members in Aznar‘s cabinet. A former PP Deputy for Toledo in the fifth and sixth Legislatures, Tocino has also held various post within the PP. She possesses a doctorate in Nuclear Law.

The environment was a major issue in the recent elections that brought the Popular Party into office. Being a new phenomenon, a magazine even included guides explaining the terms often used when speaking about the environment. It seems approprate that the administration which establishes an environmental ministry would have been elected via an election which utilized 65% recycled paper.

As democracy grew in Spain, so did the population's awareness and interest in ecological concerns. Since 1976, membership in environmental organizations has increased dramatically. Adena's membership is up by 123%. Seo's membership has increased by 385% and Aedenat's membership is up by an incredible 21,245%. Despite the fact that organizations such as Greenpeace Spain and Fapas did not exist until the 1980's, their membership has increased by an average of 157,500 percentage points.

Since there is now a ministry exclusively for the environment, will the need for environmental organizations decrease? Few expect a governmental ministry to be as austere as is necessary when it comes to making difficult decisions. The possibility or suspicion of conflicts of interest will be ever present. The reason for the suspicion is that the government also has an economic ministry, which must safeguard big business. The government must also consider future elections, as citizens rarely vote for the state of the environment over the economy. Still, the outlook is good that the ministry will listen to the concerns voiced by the environmental organizations.

Internationally, Spain's role in matters related to the environment is being recognized. In the past 20 years, several conferences focusing on ecological issues have been held there. Spain is also home to environmentally beneficial experiments which, if successful, could be models for the world.

Spain rates highest when it comes to population growth and the safety of drinking water for its population. Between 1985-1995 Spain's population increased and average of only 0.5% annually. Some countries, during that period had population increases of more than 3%. This makes Spain among the countries contributing least to global overpopulation. Drinking water for the Spanish population of 39.4 million is 100% safe.

The lack and resulting redistribution of water is a major concern. Great debate exists surrounding the environmental impact of the expansive National Hydrological Plan (PHN). The plan will move an estimated volume of 3768 cubic hectometers (4,928,544,000 cubic yards) of water per year. The water is needed primarily for land irrigation. Many academics and environmentalists have called on the government to consider the environmental impact of the PHN and other hydrologic plans. The new ministry has agreed to review the environmental impact of the criticized plans.

In 1989 Spain had carbon emissions from 5-10 metric tons per capita. Although the ranking is average, it is equal to other Western European countries. The change in the causes of this pollution over the past 20 years is most ironic. In 1976, the main causes of air pollution in the major cities were from factories and the use of heating fuels. Now the main cause is from car emissions.

Spain has also had incidents which threatened the environment. A string of oil spills in the past 20 years have plagued the country. In 1976 the Spanish tanker Urquiola exploded, after running aground off the northwestern coast near the port of La Coruña. The 113.5 million litre (30 million U.S.gallons) spill damaged 210 kilometers (130 miles) of beach. When the Greek owned Andros Patria sank in 1978, it spilled 45.4 million litres (12 million U.S.gallons) only 20 miles offshore. In 1992 a Greek oil tanker, Aegean Sea, ran aground in a sudden storm not far from where the Urquiola accident occurred nearly 16 years before. The ship later broke in two spilling 81.4 million litres (21.5 million U.S. gallons) of crude. Coming only days after the final compensations were made from the Urquiola spill, the Aegean Sea spill covered 95 kilometers (60 miles) in two days. The total environmental impact from these oil spills was devastating.

Another incident that will have a long-term impact on the environment was the 1989 accident at the nuclear power station Vandellos-I. The Vandellos-I accident reminded the public that they were not immune from accidents such as those at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. Despite the closing of Vandellos-I the following year, nine more reactors with performance and design problems are still in use. There is pressure from environmentalists to close these possibly hazardous reactors.

Aside from the ecological problems that face Spain as a nation, there are also the problems that Spain faces with the rest of the world. Problems such as the thinning ozone layer, depletion of the rainforests, and the extinction of species. Spain also joins with other Mediterranean countries in the need to improve the cleanliness and maintaining the bio-diversity of the Mediterranean Sea.

In the future, the challenge is to evaluate the necessity of and find alternatives to environmentally hazardous practices. Once those alternatives are found, implementing them is crucial. Spain's accomplishment of increased awareness about the environment has brought the issue to the forefront of public concern. The creation of a Ministry of the Environment is just the latest in the considerable efforts taken in 20 years by all sectors of society.

Deirdre Nicole Webb-Hicks, a journalist/photographer, lives in both the United States and Europe.

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Text Copyright © 1996 Deirdre Nicole Webb-Hicks
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