National Geographic warns of the environmental effect due to the new port in Fonsalía

The prestigious National Geographic magazine has joined the campaign to stop the construction of the new port in Fonsalía on the southwest coast of Tenerife due to the negative effect it will have on the environment. "The waters around that area are home to one of the highest concentrations of biodiversity and richness of cetaceans in the whole of Spain," they said, highlighting the "fear" generated by the construction of this commercial port.

The publication highlights that the Teno-Rasca strip along this coast was catalogued in 2011 as a Special Conservation Zone (ZEC) within the Natura 2000 Network, a list of European protected areas for their conservation.

However, the ZEC design map left a gap in its centre, between the towns of Alcalá and Playa San Juan, where the construction of the port is planned, with the aim that the protection of the European Union does not stop its construction.

“The strip, which runs the 22 kilometres from the lighthouse of El Fraile to Punta Salema, is home to one of the few resident populations of pilot whales in the world, which coexist in the channel between Tenerife and La Gomera with whales, dolphins, sharks and 26 other species of cetaceans”, something that would be in serious danger.

"Noise, chemical waste and pollution, the large flow of boats and, in general, the constant human presence in the area would affect the populations that reside there or that migrate, condemning this area teeming with biodiversity to a rapid and unavoidable decline,” states the Journal of the Canarian Academy of Sciences.

The publication highlights that "after becoming viral at a European level through social media", the We Move Europe campaign that aims to stop the construction of the new port now has 224,000 signatures, and the support of organizations such as Oceana, Greenpeace, WWF, SEO Birdlife, ACEST and the Asociación Canarias Archipiélago Sostenible.

The Canary Islands Government have defended the construction of the port in the municipality of Guia de Isora, saying "The Port of Fonsalía, is a vital general interest project for the connectivity and mobility of the Canary Islands, which will improve the connectivity between Tenerife, La Gomera and El Hierro. The congestion and constant overcrowding of the Port of Los Cristianos, as well as the access roads to it, make the situation untenable for its users, which is why a new access point is needed."