Plans to drill for oil just 40km west of the beautiful holiday Island of Ibiza have been in the pipeline for a while now and have received international attention from those opposed to the idea.
As we reported back in August, 180,610 EU citizens signed a petition calling on the environment ministry to “stop imminent petrol prospecting off the Balearic Coast”.
On Saturday around 300 people took to the streets of Palma to protest against the planned oil exploration which has been proposed by the Scottish oil company Cairn Energy. Similar protests were taking place on Ibiza at the same time.
Whilst a growing minority of people in the Balearics are in favour of the oil-drilling, saying that the environmental impact and beach damage – if any – would be minor, and also that Spain needs the jobs and wealth which would come with oil discovery; the majority of the population however, continue to be against the proposal.
A compulsory environmental impact study due to take place before the drilling starts has been postponed, and protesters in Mallorca – mostly in Palma – and Ibiza are calling for the study to be carried out immediately, confident that it will show oil-drilling to be harmful to sea life, the fishing industry and beach tourism.
We will need to wait and see how this story unfolds, although many believe that discussions with the oil giant, Cairn Energy, have already gone too far for the Spanish Government to pull out now.
