Millions of tiny plastic grains washed up on Spain's beaches

In the north of Spain, tiny plastic grains have been washing up on beaches for days. As the environmental scandal becomes an election issue, volunteers try to free the sand from the pellets – a Sisyphean task.

Santiago de Compostela/Oviedo – On the northern Atlantic coast of Spain The surf has been washing millions of small plastic grains onto the beaches for days. Beaches in the autonomous communities of Galicia and Asturias are particularly affected, where volunteers try to sift the individual granules from sand, algae and gravel in a Sisyphean task. Meanwhile, there is growing concern in Spain that this plastic could enter the food chain.

Environmental scandal in Spain: Are the plastic grains on the beaches toxic?

On Tuesday, January 9, after the Galicia region, Asturias also sounded the alarm and activated level two in the marine pollution protocol. State Environment Minister Alejandro Calvo spoke of a “general occurrence of plastic pellets on all beaches” in Asturias. These grains used to make plastic have been appearing since January 5th sometimes wild and beautiful coasts in the north of Spain, which probably come from a cargo ship that lost part of its cargo off Portugal. Galicia's state government assumes 25 tons of pellets, each one barely larger than a grain of rice.

Without a doubt, the tiny grains of plastic on the beaches are an environmental scandal, but they are also a political issue. Because There are state elections in Galicia on February 18th. “The plastic is not toxic,” said the Galician Environment Minister Ánxeles Vázquez (PP) and added. “That’s why it is and remains plastic and has to be removed from the beaches,” she said. Spain's Environment Minister Teresa Ribera accused her colleague of downplaying the accident and its consequences because of the upcoming election: “This matter would have been approached completely differently if we weren't in the pre-election campaign here.”

Plastic on the beaches is a reminder of a prestige disaster: Spain's fishermen are also warning

One can hardly blame the PP Minister Vázquez for her careless statement, because everything that washes up on the coast of Galicia brings back memories of the “Prestige” – the disaster surrounding the oil tanker that broke up off Galicia in 2002 and the northern coast of Spain sautéed with crude oil. Now you can see them again, the volunteer teams that clean the beaches. This time they don't remove oil from the sand, but rather plastic beads. It is also impossible to separate plastic grains from sand, algae and gravel on the beaches using rakes, shovels and buckets. Nobody has adequate tools and the authorities in Spain are not really getting going. Like 20 years ago, a lot of time passes.

In fact, the beads are PET plastic from the polyester family, which is also used to make drinking bottles or containers for storing food. Whether poisonous or not doesn't actually play a decisive role. Because plastic is not edible. And the danger is that fish and birds mistake these grains for food and so plastic enters the food chain. Even the fishermen in Spain warn Microplastics in fish isn't exactly good for business.

Freighter lost sacks of plastic – grains have been washing up on Spain's beaches for weeks

Finding someone responsible for the mishap and even holding them accountable will likely be difficult. The 300 meter long cargo ship called “Toconao” sails under the flag of the African country Liberia and on behalf of a company called Polar 3 LTD from the Bermuda Islands, which in turn is represented by Columbia Ship Management from Cyprus. This ship sailed from Algeciras in southern Spain to Rotterdam on December 5th and lost six containers in a storm 20 kilometers off the coast of Galicia in Portuguese waters, one of which contained 1,000 bags of plastic pellets weighing 25 kilos each.

There is hardly any doubt as to where the plastic comes from. On December 13th, the waves washed up on the beach of Espiñeirido in Galicia 53 bags with the label of the Polish manufacturer Bedeko Europe. It didn't take long for the Finisterre coastal defenses to come across the freighter “Toconao”. Almost a month has passed since then and the disaster has not gone away. This Monday, January 8th, the Spanish Environmental Protection Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation.

The environmental organization Greenpeace has identified the grains in the Natural Park of A Illa de Arousa, in the Bay of Vigo, in A Coruña; they are washed up on beaches in the autonomous communities of Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria. It is questionable whether the plastic grains will stay in Spain and stop at the French border.