Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. To cap all the previous controversies about the wastewater spills, Ecologistas en Acción have just awarded the Albercutx beach in Puerto Pollensa one of its 48 annual Black Flags.
Ecologistas en Acción is an organisation of some 300 environmental groups from all over Spain. It produces an annual report in which two beaches in each coastal province are identified as recipients of Black Flags - one because of pollution, the other because of poor environmental management.
Cala Millor is in the second category, chiefly because of the removal of posidonia remains. This leaves Puerto Pollensa (Albercutx) alone because of contamination.
The report says that despite the virtual absence of tourists for a year, there have been episodes of pollution which “lead us to think that there is an underlying structural problem”. They’re not wrong.
It goes on to say that various groups have complained and that the town hall acknowledges there have been “faecal discharges” as a result of specific faults with the wastewater system.
There is, Ecologistas en Acción observe, a lack of resources for water purification, while they state that “not reinvesting part of the considerable income from tourism in maintaining a healthy and attractive environment might be considered to be the most stupid of policies”. Ouch!
As can be imagined, the report has not gone unnoticed by opposition parties at the town hall or by the association for the defence of Puerto Pollensa.
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Always nice to read that the hundreds of thousands of Tourists swamping Mallorca can in those parts of Mallorca and the Bay of Palma take a nice swim in their own feces after breakfast !
Andrew, this has been a growing problem for the past 20 years. We are now selling up and moving away as swimming in effluent is totally unacceptable. When friends ask about Port de Pollenca we tell them to avoid Mallorca. France and Greece offer much safer holidays. The problem is exacerbated by the money grab of building licenses in the Boquer area with zero investment in the infrastructure. The place will drown in its own faeces but the major will just shrug his shoulders. Absolute disaster and abuse on a grand scale.