Ibiza marine park 'safe from oil'

Some Ibiza beaches have been polluted by the oilspill

Spanish authorities say they have prevented oil from a freighter that ran aground off the holiday island of Ibiza from reaching a nature reserve.

Absorbent barriers are now in place to protect the Ses Salines reserve, a sanctuary for migratory birds.

A clean-up operation is continuing on three Ibiza beaches which were closed last week after oil came ashore.

The freighter Don Pedro hit rocks and sank last Wednesday, with 150 tons of fuel oil and diesel on board.

Spain's El Pais reports on its website that volunteers have removed about 100 tons of polluted sand from the affected beaches.

The three closed beaches are Talamanca, Figueretes and En Bossa.

A private firm is working to extract the remaining oil from the ship.

Ibiza is renowned for its buzzing night life and beaches, attracting thousands of holidaymakers - many of them British - every year.

Spanish Public Works Minister Magdalena Alvarez played down the pollution threat at the weekend, saying "there is practically no slick" and predicting that the beaches would be cleaned up "within days".

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The oil spill has pretty much been cleaned up, although what will be done about the remaining oil in the freighter, which is submerged in 45 feet of water still remains unclear. Local authorities moved quickly and efficiently to clean up the mess. The island is at present going through a radical facelift. The emphasis is moving away from mass tourism to providing for the needs of the wealthy who can afford to buy country villas at over-inflated prices.

This trickles down to the beach where the price of a sandwich has doubled in three years. One might not suspect this looking at airport figures. Last weekend, 110,000 tourists arrived on the island. They will cause much more damage to the island's eco-system than a few thousand litres of leaked hydraulic oil.
Luke Mitchell, San Miguel, Ibiza

I live here permanently and drive past the beaches daily on my way to and from work. In truth you think of spillage and you think of Exxon Valdez, but this spill was more of a leak and it has to be said the authorities acted very quickly in organising a clean-up campaign.

If you go to the beach now there is a boom secured across the bay to collect the oil and the beach itself has thankfully remained intact, although still closed to the public. I imagine within a day or two it will re-open, we escaped very lightly considering how bad it could have been.
Adrian, Ibiza, Spain