The Minister of the Environment presented yesterday in A Coruña the book “The Prestige catastrophe. Cleaning and restoration of the northern peninsular coast”, published by the General Directorate of Coasts of the Ministry of the Environment.

At the presentation of the publication, the Minister outlined the aid provided by her Department to the area, after the sinking of the oil tanker, in particular, the contribution of 210 million euros for cleaning and regeneration of the coast, of which 199 million were in charge of the General Directorate of Coasts and the other 11 million, were invested on behalf of the National Parks Autonomous Agency.

The book “The Prestige Catastrophe”, which recognises the courage of those who worked with dedication and extreme care to regenerate the ecosystems of the coast after the oil slick of November 2002, is also a starting point for the managers of any pollution situation such as the one suffered by the Galician coast. The sea and beaches are regenerating and this is mainly due to the “white tide” of solidarity brought there by patient and hopeful people who knew that the fuel they managed to remove from the water, that each pebble they managed to clean, trying not to extract more sand than necessary, would prevent another black spot from returning with the next wave.

This publication is a tribute to volunteers, environmental associations, fishermen, soldiers, contracted personnel, administrations, companies, and a confirmation that success is only achieved with common drive and co-responsibility in tasks. The Prestige disaster has highlighted the capacity of citizens to respond.

Finally, the book should represent for readers an opportunity to reflect on Spain’s energy dependence on fossil fuels and the possibility of revising the current development model, to make it more sustainable.