The Mar Menor already has legal personality: "It is exceptional to endow a natural entity with rights"

The General Courts of the State have approved on Wednesday afternoon the Law Proposal for the

to the

lagoon and its basin by 230 votes in favor, three against and 30 abstentions.

This has been decided by the Senate during a plenary session in which the Law Proposal has been processed by the

.

In the plenary session, a veto proposal, formulated by Vox, has been debated, which has been rejected by 258 votes against, three in favor and one abstention.

An amendment from the PP has also been debated, which has been rejected with 137 votes against, 105 in favor and 21 abstentions, reports

.

"I believe that it

, the environmental degradation that we have been infringing on our natural resources for years. It is also a historic moment if we stick to what we science is warning about the harmful effects of continuing on the path we are on", said Olga Álvarez García, a lawyer specialized in environmental cases, after knowing the result of the vote, in statements collected by the Science Media Center (SMC).

"For this reason, it is essential to seek imaginative solutions against the apathy and collective selfishness of allowing the plunder and progressive contamination of natural spaces, which are a value that belongs to all people, to all living beings", he continued. Alvarez.

During the plenary session, the first to speak was Senator J

, from Vox, who rejected the Law Proposal on the understanding that it responds to "an

and radical commitment", with the aim of "leaving behind our society, centered on in the human being", and "lead us to an

society based on the 2030 Agenda".

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For Marín, the deterioration of the lagoon is a consequence of the "lack of application and compliance" with the current regulations on this natural environment by "the different administrations involved", and does not respond to the absence of laws and legal instruments created for your protection.

"This proposal proposes something with severe implications, such as the submission of the fundamental principle to the right of ecology," said the Vox senator, for whom the representation and governance to which the citizen's initiative alludes is, in reality, "an

."

Likewise, he indicated that its approval would suppose the creation of "an

beach bar " and "dominated by the extreme left", which will function "outside the law" and will entail "more

and more legislation", instead of "managing well with existing instruments and without increasing public spending".

In the reply turn, the PSOE senator

lamented that Vox considers "ideological" all the opinions that he does not share, such as

.

Faced with this, he defended that "human rights can be united with the rights of living beings."

"The human being is not the center of nature or superior to the biodiversity in which he is integrated," according to Lastra, who linked this "expansion of rights" with the struggle that, in his day, the slaves waged or for equality between men and women.

In his opinion, the situation of the Mar Menor "is the verification of a

of those who, by virtue of autonomy, have responsibility for the environment, agriculture and land planning."

Miguel Sánchez

, from Ciudadanos, argued that the ILP is "proof of the failure of regional and national politics," which "has forced civil society to mobilize to find a solution to the problem that we politicians have created."

"While the lagoon is slowly dying, politics, far from acting, shook off the blame and threw

to the contrary," he lamented.

Sánchez indicated that the deterioration of the Mar Menor "is not a coincidence", but has taken place over a long period of time "while political leaders, especially regional ones,

".

Now it's time, he said, "side" the lagoon, civil society and natural heritage with a "yes, of course" to the citizen proposal.

The spokesman for the Confederal Left,

, refused to respond to any of Vox's arguments.

"If we can no longer convince them with science or climate change, I ask them to

alleging the Pope's Encyclical or article 45 of the Spanish Constitution, understanding that they are a valid reference for them," he ratified.

On behalf of the PP, Senator

recalled that the President of the Murcian Government, Fernando López Miras, and the

have already expressed their "undoubted respect" for the popular will of the signatories of the ILP.

He pointed out that citizens demand that environmental sustainability be "matched" with economic and social ones.

"The veto would only curtail the debate on a legislative text," according to Vázquez, who did agree with Vox in defending "a

21st-century

In fact, he argued that this sector "can be part of the solution in its interaction with a currently overflowing aquifer."

"Farmers who, for the most part, have already accredited before the CHS that their activity does not pollute," he concluded.

DEBATE OF THE AMENDMENT

Vázquez also intervened in defense of the amendment presented by his group that proposes including the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT) among the candidates to be part of the Scientific Committee.

"It is paradoxical that this university, located in a municipality to which most of the Mar Menor belongs and which has been carrying out research for decades, is not in the group of universities that can propose candidates," he stressed.

Likewise, Vázquez criticized the veto presented by Vox, while asking for "

for this popular initiative signed by more than

and that gives voice to thousands of citizens for the

."

In his reply, Lastra pointed out that the text that is put to the vote says that the universities of Alicante and Murcia will belong to the committee, which "includes the UPCT."

The senator of the Basque Parliamentary Group,

, recognized that, despite being a "novel" initiative, her group does not see "clearly" that this legal status "is an effective guarantee" for the salty lagoon to come out of the situation you are in.

The senator of the Popular Parliamentary Group

defended that "it is the obligation of all the parties to solve the situation of the Mar Menor forever".

Bernabé stated that, when the environmental disasters of the Prestige and Aznalcóllar occurred, there was "an immediate response, coordinated and promoted by the Government of Spain" in the exercise of its powers over maritime public domains.

"I honestly believe that the same thing should be done in the Mar Menor as well," he said.

As he explained, "this summer has marked a very positive turning point because its waters have once again become more

than ever, thanks to the decision of the Government of Fernando López Miras, which has mobilized millions of euros and hundreds of human and material resources for the massive removal of algae, avoiding the sad episodes of green soups and anoxia with dead fish".

In this sense, Bernabé stressed that thanks to this "pioneering initiative", more than

have been removed , both in the sea and on land.

During his speech, the senator stressed that the risk continues to exist because the causes of the problem are still latent.

Thus, he highlighted that "fresh water loaded with nitrates continues to enter the Mar Menor at close range through a state-owned public boulevard, such as the Albujón boulevard."

In addition, he has remarked that this water loaded with nitrates "continues to filter in torrents into the Mar Menor through state-owned public groundwater, such as that of the Campo de Cartagena Quaternary Aquifer; and there are state-owned public beaches where you cannot enter because they are full of mud and sludge".

For her part, the PSOE senator, Lourdes Retuerto, attacked the "erratic and greedy policies" of the last 28 years of PP governments, with the "lack of a management model" and opted for the "paradigm change" sponsored by the ILP.

She has wondered "what would have happened if the law for the protection and harmonization of uses of the Mar Menor that the PSOE launched in 1987 had not been overthrown by the PP."

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