Bauza: read my lips. No oil and gas exploration in Balearic waters

Palma.—The President of the Balearic government, Jose Ramon Bauza, stepped up his war of words yesterday against oil and natural gas exploration in Balearic waters.
“We are not going to be silenced. We do not want oil and gas exploration in our waters,” Bauza said. He was speaking yesterday as the search for natural gas and oil got underway off the Canary Islands which led to a clash between the Spanish Navy and Greenpeace activists.
The previous Spanish government awarded a series of contracts, including one to a British company, to search for oil and gas in local waters. But now local environmentalists have found an unusual ally  in the form of Balearic President Jose Ramon Bauza who is leading a vocal campaign against the exploration.  “It is a great pity that we are in this position after contracts were awarded by the previous socialist administration,” said Bauza, who added that he had informed the central government in Madrid of his opposition to the oil and gas exploration plan.