The Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), has approved the Royal Decree that regulates and expands the Marine Protected Area and the Special Area of Conservation “El Cachucho”.

The Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, has approved the Royal Decree that regulates and expands the Marine Protected Area and the Special Area of Conservation “El Cachucho”, one of the marine spaces with the greatest natural wealth in our seas. Specifically, its initial area has been increased by 26,714 hectares, leaving a total of 261,664 hectares protected, and the regulation of uses and activities in the area has been updated.

El Cachucho is a large underwater mountain that rises from the more than four thousand meters deep of the abyssal plain of the Bay of Biscay to 425 meters above sea level. Its summit is located in front of Ribadesella (Asturias), 65 kilometres from the coast.

This marine space is an ecosystem of great importance in our country, as it is home to a wide variety of habitats and species protected by various European directives and international conventions, such as the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Northeast Atlantic (OSPAR Convention). Some of the most emblematic species that can be found in this territory are the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) or the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).

El Cachucho was declared a protected area by Royal Decree in 2011, when its first management plan was approved. This plan included the corresponding protection measures for both the Marine Protected Area and the Special Area of Conservation.

The second management plan, now approved, updates the conservation measures to be carried out in this area, taking into account the scientific knowledge obtained during the decade through the Spanish Institute of Oceanography. Thus, the new planning aims to improve the current management tool of the protected area to achieve greater conservation of its natural values, as well as to regulate its uses and activities to promote the sustainable economy and the consolidation of an effective and coherent marine Natura 2000 Network.

To this end, the plan establishes a maximum protection zone closed to all fisheries with gear that is in contact with the bottom and a second buffer zone, in which fishing with bottom longlines and lines with hooks is allowed only under certain conditions. The area of protected space has also been expanded in order to cover areas with the presence of reefs, a type of habitat protected by European regulations. The expansion represents an increase of 26,714 hectares and will bring the resulting space to 261,664 hectares.

PROTECTION OF 30% OF THE MARINE SURFACE BY 2030
Spain currently has just over 12% of marine area under some form of protection. With the approval of this new management plan and the expansion of the protected area, progress is made towards the objective established in the European Union Strategy on Biodiversity of having 30% of marine area protected by 2030.