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- Identity: the
building blocks of
2. Literature
and philosophy
3. Art and
architecture
4. Performing
arts
5. Cinema
and fashion
6. Media and
communications
7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
the details of
How green is Spain?
Environmental issues have been slow to sway
the political agenda. Desertification, deforestation,
air pollution, water pollution, overdevelopment,
disappearing fauna: Spain has every ailment in the book,
yet the Confederación de Los Verdes (the Greens) and
Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds (ICV), a Catalan ‘eco-
socialist’ outfit, have virtually nil representation in the
Cortes. As the Spanish people take a growing interest in
environmental issues, many appalled at the damage
already done, their leaders are beginning to listen,
even if impressive rhetoric doesn’t always equate to
action. And, with a natural paucity of fossil fuels and
contrasting wealth of sun and wind, Spain’s renewable
energy sources are starting to make ground; indeed,
with 12 per cent of energy generation now derived from
wind power, Spain is a world leader.
In terms of more direct environmental damage, recent
years have borne various disasters. In 2007 Greenpeace
drew attention to the demise of Spain’scostas, likening
coastal development to a cancer.They highlighted
Andalusia with nearly 50,000 illegal builds and 200 golf
courses either completed or planned. In the same year
a vast golf development in Cope, Murcia, was halted by
the regional high court pending investigation into how a
protected area had been reclassified as building land.
Five years earlier, the PP government was lambasted
for mishandling the Prestige oil tanker disaster that left
much of Galicia’s coast, protected areas included,
coated in oil. Meanwhile, the plight of native species
like the Cantabrian brown bear and black vulture attracts
growing attention, and they may return from the brink.
The unfortunate Iberian lynx, however, looks done for.
Spain’s Iberian lynx
population is estimated
to be around 100,
clinging on in Andalusia.
A century ago there were
100,000 living across
Spain.
