Greenpeace makes an example out of Tenerife

The environmental organization has published a report calling the construction of the port of Granadilla "irrational".

"Tenerife's urban growth is excessive, the industrial port in Granadilla de Abona is the paradigm of irrationality and, in general, the island shows a worrying disregard for the natural environment." These are just some of the statements Greenpeace makes in its report Destrucción a Toda Costa 2010 (Destruction At All Costs 2010), detailing the rate of destruction of the Spanish coast during the past ten years.

"In the last 20 years an area equivalent to eight football fields has been destroyed on the Spanish coast each day."

The environmental organization, which has analysed the 8,000 miles of the coast of Spain, considers Tenerife as one of the clearest examples of "contempt" for the environment and qualifies the urban expansion of the Island "relentless" .

The document indicates that in Fuerteventura, the built-up area has grown by 159%; in Lanzarote, it has increased by 60 % and in Tenerife, that growth has been 51%.

In 2007 there were two municipalities that expanded their urban area more than 100%; San Miguel de Abona, where it grew by 172% and Adeje, with 194%.

Greenpeace says overbuilding in the Canary Islands has hurt the tourism industry, causing it to suffer a decline in occupancy levels.

For example, the number of hotels on the islands increased by 19% between 2000 and 2004. In 2007, the Spanish tourist industry recorded its sixth consecutive year of revenue losses, but even so, planned to build 202,500 new hotel rooms, of which 52,500 were in the Canaries. Another case highlighted in the report is the industrial port in Granadilla, which is considered "the perfect example of irrationality."

Despite adverse reports by the Directorate General of Coasts and Conservation of Nature and, that this stretch of coastline was earmarked by the Ministry of Environment in its list of candidates for National Park, the Government of Spain gave its approval for the port to go ahead in 2003. "The speculative interest behind the project has managed to overcome all barriers," complains Greenpeace.

Although the Canary Islands are not included in the 7.7 hectares that, from 1987-2005 were destroyed daily along the Spanish coast, the environmentalists' report points to the dark future that awaits the Islands. "The Canary Islands is facing a legacy of illegal urban construction in many parts of its coastline".

Politicians are not spared criticism from Greenpeace, which reports that the Canary Islands in 2008 boasted "the dubious honour of being the autonomous region, together with Andalusia, where the most mayors and councillors were involved in urban corruption." The tourist moratorium remains a useless bit of paper.

Article from LA OPINIÓN via the ASOCIACION CANARIA PARA LA DEFENSA DE LA NATURALEZA (Canarian Association for the Defence of Nature).

Contact Greenpeace in Tenerife at tenerife@participa.greenpeace.es