As millions of holidaymakers head to the Mediterranean coast,the new reports show that some of the most visited areas, Spain and Greece, are under the gravest threat from large scale, unsustainable and often illegal building developments, commercial fishing and pollution.

The ‘Destruction at all co(a)st’ report, launched in Madrid this morning, highlights the impact of unsustainable and uncontrolled urban development along the Spanish coast, where over two million new houses are projected to be built in the next few years. There has also been a huge rise in the number of large residential developments with golf courses and marinas.Also, 312 new golf courses and 109 new marinas or extensions to existing ones are being developed along the Spanish coast, often in areas where the environment is under severe pressure due to climate change.

In addition to these, 350 villages already suffer from illegal dumping or irregular treatment of urban waste.The report also uncovers alleged large scale corruption.Nearly 100,000 illegally-built houses have been built and 85 corruption cases linked to urban development have already been investigated by the authorities to date.The report calls for governments in key coastal areas to commit to implementing a raft of solutions and highlights the urgent need to implement reforms on the coastal management to put a halt to its destruction.

“The situation of the Spanish Mediterranean coastline worsens every year, and there is now a very real risk of destroying the very thing that people come here for,” said María José Caballero from Greenpeace Spain.

“We are calling for a full analysis of the Spanish coastal tourist industry – its environmental impact, sustainability and projected growth, and urgent measures to guarantee a proper protection of the area’s coastal and marine environment.”

Meanwhile in Greece, Greenpeace and the Environmental Movement of the

Corinth launched a proposal highlighting the threats to the Gulf of Corinth, an area of exceptional beauty and marine diversity which is suffering from decades of overfishing and uncontrolled pollution, especially the dumping of red mud by the Greek Aluminum industry.

The proposal ‘The Gulf of Corinth, a small shelter for life’ was launched on board the Rainbow Warrior in the port of Korinthos this morning. It calls for the designation of the Corinthian Gulf as a marine reserve, and for this to be a model for the establishment of a network of similar reserves in other areas of the Mediterranean.

“The Gulf of Corinth has a unique and extraordinary richness of marine life. But it is in a dire state and unless swift action is taken soon to protect it, there could be disastrous consequences for the environment, on which many local people depend for their livelihoods across the entire region,” said Sofia Tsenikli of Greenpeace Greece.

“We call on the Greek Government to create a marine reserve to protect the Gulf of Corinth, which would constitute a

model of good practice for marine reserves throughout Greece and the greater Mediterranean region.”

Greenpeace is campaigning for a global network of fully protected marine reserves covering 40% of our oceans as an essential way to protect the full range of marine life and restore the health of fish stocks. As part of this campaign, the Rainbow Warrior is currently in the Mediterranean documenting threats to the sea and promoting the designation of marine reserves.

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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