On Monday the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Javier Celdrán, chaired the second meeting of the Committee of Social Participation of the Mar Menor, where he reported that his department had received 30 complaints about the salt lagoon in the last 20 days.
“Most of them,” he said, “were related to the quality of sand, water or the marinas and were resolved, or at least acknowledged in less than 48 hours.”
Celdrán spoke of the mobile phone application, CONECTAmbiental, which was being used by the public to notify of these incidents “making a very simple tool available to both residents, in order to make their complaints, and to the administration who, as a result, were able to act quickly”.
Also discussed during the meeting, was the state of water quality in the salt lagoon, which, according to scientific monitoring data provided by the Ministry “indicated that chlorophyll and water turbidity were at their lowest level since August 2016, although the average water transparency is displaying much better values than those in August last year when it was about a meter. It is currently placed around the four meters mark “.
The group also debated measures to be introduced that will combat the irregular moorings on the Mar Menor thereby preventing damage to this natural area.
Celdrán also reported on the results of the work carried out by the special cleaning brigades, which since 21 April have removed 430 cubic meters of algae waste from the beaches and natural spaces of the salt lagoon and a further 142 cubic meters of other non-organic waste.
The removal of algae has also been carried out on the beaches from Playa Honda, Mar de Cristal, Islas Menores, Los Nietos, Estrella de Mar, Los Urrutias, Punta Brava and Cavanna , among others.
“Many of these environmental activities are purely voluntary, helping to better maintain the natural areas of the Mar Menor. They also make people aware that they must respect our natural spaces and beaches and leave behind no waste. The first-class state of the Mar Menor is a matter for us all, “concluded the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment.
The Social Participation Committee of the Mar Menor is a large representation of the Municipalities of Cartagena, Fuente Álamo, Los Alcázares, San Javier, San Pedro y Torre Pacheco; de ANSE, Arcosur, Asaja, la Autoridad Portuaria, las Cámaras de Comercio de Murcia and Cartagena, COAG, COEC, la Comunidad de Regantes Campo de Cartagena, el Consorcio Estación Náutica Mar Menor, Croem, Ecologistas en Acción, la Federación Regional de Cofradías de Pescadores, Hostecar, Hostemur, Hostetur, UGT and UPA, la Federación de Asociaciones de Vecinos, Users and Consumers de Cartagena and its region, Citizen Platforms that are linked to the defence of the Mar Menor, the Guild of Fishermen de San Pedro de Pinatar and the spokesman of the Scientific Advisory Council.
