ARCHIVED - Campo de Cartagena farmers claim they are being persecuted over the Mar Menor crisis

Agriculturalists believe they are being unfairly singled out as the cause of the deterioration in water quality

As the Region of Murcia awaits the visit on Wednesday of Teresa Ribera, the Minister for Ecological Transition, who has announced that it is time for action to protect the marine environment of the Mar Menor, the farmers of the Campo de Cartagena have hit back angrily at what they perceive as “persecution” in the way they have been held largely responsible for the deterioration in water quality over recent decades.

The issue has come to a head over the last few days after tens of thousands of dead and dying fish and crustaceans appeared at the beaches of the northern end of the lagoon, apparently affected by the low levels of oxygen in the water. Antonio Luengo, the minister for the Environment in the Murcia government, has consistently attributed the disaster to the gota fría storm of mid-September, which caused widespread flooding and the runoff of large amounts of fresh water into the Mar Menor, but Sra Ribera spoke on Monday of the condition of the Mar Menor being an example of the “collapse of an unsustainable model” of agriculture, seemingly advocating radical changes in the methods of intensive crop farming in the fertile soil of the Campo de Cartagena.

The agriculture sector is of prime importance to the economy of Murcia, accounting for around 20 per cent of GDP, and in response Fernando Gómez of Proexport complains that “with the dead still warm and before an autopsy has been carried out” the agriculturalists are being singled out as those responsible for what has happened. He also adds that the farmers are “as alarmed at the tragedy as the ecologists and residents”.

Before pointing the finger of blame, he says, continuing with his metaphor, it would be prudent to wait for the forensic scientists to determine the cause of death, explaining that in any case the crop farmers will not be an obstacle to the plans to implement measures to prevent all runoff into the Mar Menor. When rules are made, he says, Proexport will urge all farmers to abide by them.

At the same time, a spokesman for the farmers in the Campo de Cartagena adds that in the area where the fish appeared at the weekend there is no irrigation farming, describing the paradox as “suspicious”.

Perhaps a more balanced view is that expressed by José María Albarracín, the president of the Murcia business confederation CROEM. Sr Albarracín recognizes that from an economic point of view both agriculture and the Mar Menor are of vital importance to the Region (the latter on account of tourism and fishing) but, due to environmental concerns, if one of the two had to be prioritized over the other it would be the Mar Menor.

Teresa Ribera’s visit to Murcia on Wednesday will consist of a meeting with Fernando López Miras, the president of the regional government, followed by a boat trip in the Mar Menor to see the lagoon for herself. She will also be meeting members of the scientific committee formed to monitor the condition of the lagoon, representatives of the agricultural sector and the Mayors of the four municipalities affected by the plans to eliminate runoff, principally Cartagena, Los Alcázares, San Javier, Torre Pacheco and San Pedro del Pinatar.