The serious situation of the Mar Menor is well known. This salt lagoon is the largest in Europe, it covers approximately 135 km2 and 73 km of coastline. Despite being a protected area of ​​great environmental value, its deterioration has been a fact for years.

Many of the incidents that have negatively affected it were detected more than forty years ago. Pollution generated by industrial agricultural activity, mining waste, the large concentration of ports (10 in total, not counting illegal anchoring of vessels), growing urbanisation, an old and incomplete sanitation network along with the opening of the Estacio canal (near the Tomás Maestre port in La Manga strip) have contributed to the current state of the lagoon.

It is easy to see how its state has changed by the colour of the water. Something which was originally dark blue, began to turn turquoise around the year 2016, which is when the state of the lagoon became critical. The famous seahorses, emblems of the Mar Menor, became increasingly scarce.

At that time, we began to talk about “eutrophication”, colloquially “an overgrowth of algae” that occurs when a body of water receives a large amount of inorganic nutrients, mainly nitrogen and phosphorus, as a consequence of intensive irrigation and industrial agriculture.

In October 2019, after an episode of torrential rains (DANA), we witnessed the death of part of the aquatic life in the lagoon. Two years later, in August 2021, all the alarms went off after tons of dead fish appeared on some beaches of the Mar Menor.

In all this time there have been accusations made between the different administrative bodies, laws have been implemented, precautionary measures have been taken, a lot of controversy arose and a judicial investigation has been conducted.

Currently, it is extremely vulnerable to any meteorological event (flood, maximum temperatures, etc.). Nowadays holidaymakers can see how jellyfishes proliferate, which we should be grateful for… since they do a great job of purifying the water!

But we do not want to end this sad story without providing some data and the opinion of an expert who invites optimism. In the words of Juan Manuel Ruiz, a Research Professor at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, an expert in the ecosystem of the Mar Menor, « the Mar Menor is often compared to a terminally ill person but its destiny is not death. » Although it is impossible for him to say when it will happen, he is sure that « if we apply the measures at the source of the problem, the ecosystem will recover. « Nature is strong and if we take our foot off of it, it will find a way. »

Hopefully the 484 million euros of European funds budgeted for its recovery will be well managed and useful. Of that amount, a large part is destined for monitoring and study to determine the functioning of its internal processes, something that science has been demanding for years.

Please know that the quality of the water is constantly controlled and that bathing in its waters is safe for your health.