The environmental battle to stop the construction of an open-pit uranium mine 40kms from the Portuguese border in Spain has seen the government under new pressure to tackle Spanish authorities.
MPs voted today on seven resolutions basically all calling for a suspension of works ongoing.
The resolutions boil down to Portugal putting the case that it is “vital” that a cross-border environmental impact study be undertaken “to safeguard the environment of Portuguese territory”.
Almost every party voted in favour, apart from PS Socialists who abstained on the basis that some of the resolutions were “exclusively worded to stop the process of uranium exploration” which “could be seen as an attempt to interfere with internal affairs of the Spanish State.”
This is an issue however that has united Portuguese and Spanish populations living near the mine at Retortillo, Salamanca (click here).
Thousands joined a protest in February which carried with it a holm oak tree in protest to the 30,000 holm oaks that have already been cleared from the site.
As one protestor told us: “The place looks like the surface of the moon already. It is heartbreaking. And once they start mining, our beautiful environment will be ruined”.
natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
Photo: https://www.facebook.com/StopUranioCampoCharro/
