More than twenty neighborhood, social, and environmental entities have presented the platform 'Mar Viva – Plataforma pel Mar d'Alacant', a citizen initiative that seeks to denounce the serious situation of the coastline and demand a real commitment to the 'Zero Discharge' project in Alicante.
The presentation was led by Sol García and José Manuel Santamaría, from the Gran Vía Sur Neighborhood Association, along with Ernesto Gil, from the El Templete de Benalúa Neighborhood Association. The entities have warned of "structural and continuous pollution" affecting the bay of Alicante.
More than 20 cubic hectometers of insufficiently treated water are discharged into the bay each year, in addition to recurrent episodes of untreated discharges. Our sea is agonizing and an invaluable natural heritage is being degraded.
The platform's representatives believe that this is not an isolated problem, but a chronic situation, with an impact even on protected areas such as Tabarca or Cap de l'Horta. They denounce that this situation is a direct consequence of years of lack of planning, delayed investments, obsolete infrastructure, and lack of coordination between administrations.
Thus, the collective's founding manifesto highlights the right to a clean sea, transparency regarding discharges, water cycle planning, institutional co-responsibility, and citizen participation. It also focuses on public health and environmental justice, warning that neighborhoods such as San Gabriel, Babel, or Urbanova "have been enduring the impacts for years".
Among its main demands, the platform calls for the execution of the 'Zero Discharge' project, the modernization of treatment plants, and the improvement of the sanitation system to prevent discharges into the sea. The entities point to responsibilities in the Alicante City Council, the Generalitat Valenciana, and the Central Government, and denounce the lack of political will.
Any citizen would be sanctioned for discharging. When administrations do it, nothing happens.
The platform, which starts with 22 affiliated entities, will promote awareness actions, institutional initiatives, and legal actions if necessary. They concluded that "Alicante cannot continue treating its sea as a landfill. Those responsible for protecting it cannot continue to look the other way. There are no more excuses, it is time to act".