On Saturday, August 29, 2021, tens of thousands of protesters formed a human chain around the Mar Menor saltwater lake in southeastern Spain to express their grief over tons of fish that died due to nitrate pollution from agricultural practices, according to organizers and regional officials. Images of the fish that died from oxygen deprivation due to this pollution made headlines in Spanish media and shocked public opinion.
Pictures from the protest showed massive lines of local residents holding hands, joined by tourists, many of whom were wearing beach attire, along the six-kilometer stretch of the Cazares beach. The location lies on the shores of the lake, which is 73 kilometers long. Organizers estimated the number of participants to be around 70,000.
Jesus Cotillas, one of the organizers, told AFP, "It was a protest of sorrow for the death of the animals... We wanted to ask the fish in some way for forgiveness for the barbarity we inflicted upon them." He added, "We have witnessed millions of fish dying over the course of several days, and that pains us since it could have been avoided." He clarified that the goal of the action was "to show our determination that this does not happen again."
Many participants wore black clothing while others raised banners calling for the rescue of Mar Menor. Scientists explained that the primary cause of the oxygen deficit was pollution from hundreds of tons of nitrates used as fertilizers in intensive agriculture, which promotes algal bloom that suffocates the aquatic ecosystem in a phenomenon known as eutrophication.
On Monday, marking the seventh day of the die-off, regional officials reported finding between 4.5 and five tons of dead fish, while the total amount of dead fish and algae collected amounted to 15 tons on Saturday.
Noelia Arroyo, the mayor of the neighboring city of Cartagena, stated, "The fifteen tons of dead fish and biomass (removed from the beach) indicate that what has occurred is an environmental disaster and a state of emergency, necessitating immediate assistance for the ecosystem."
Socialist Minister of Ecological Transition Teresa Ribera, who visited the site on Wednesday, accused the right-wing People's Party regional government of turning a blind eye to illegal agricultural practices in the Campo de Cartagena valley.
