Help Ibiza say NO! To oil drilling

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Ibiza needs you - plans are afoot to begin drilling for oil in the gulf of Valencia, just a few kilometres off the coast of Ibiza. 

The project is to be financed by Scottish company Cairn Energy, famous for their controversial decision to drill for oil in the environmentally fragile Arctic Circle.

The company has been given the go ahead by government officials in Madrid amidst strong local opposition. 

Public outrage In an almost unanimous show of unity, over 50 organizations across Ibiza and Formentera, including local government institutions, political organisations, town halls and local businesses have got together to form the ‘Alianza Mar Blava’ (The Mar Blava Alliance). 

Their objective? To stop the oil exploration going ahead.

Issue 1 - oil leaks and damage to coastline 

To begin with, they contest that there is a real danger of a potentially catastrophic oil leak deep beneath the sea, like the one seen in the gulf of Mexico during 2010.

It was one of world’s worst environmental disasters which saw tragic, widespread destruction of coastline along with the death of countless fish, mammals and birds. Disasters like these can be caused by the acoustic surveys used in ‘phase one’ of such exploratory projects, emitting sound waves that can reach between 10,000 and 100,000 times louder than the engines of a jet plane. 

Issue 2 - acoustic surveys and death of marine life 

There is wide scientific consensus that such sound levels devastate marine life, interfering with ability to orientate, breed and navigate. Eggs and larva are destroyed and internal bleeding, injuries and eventually death, are the result.

Issue 3 - Danger to whales, dolphins and turtles 

The proposed site of the oil rig also happens to be smack bang in the path of the western Mediterranean’s migratory corridor used by whales, dolphins and turtles.

Quite aside from being an ugly eyesore on the beautiful Ibiza coastline, the oil rig would threaten their survival.

Issue 4 - No more clean seas 

Finally, the ancient marine meadows of Posidonia seagrass, UNESCO world heritage site and what keeps the seas crystal clear and clean around Ibiza and Formentera, would be irrevocably damaged.

The accumulation of toxic chemicals used in the second and third ‘phases’ of the UK energy giant’s project would be inevitable, say the Alliance.