Last weekend a group of scuba divers took part in a clean-up operation in the Portals Vells area.
The latest action organised by Eco Projects Mallorca, ten divers collected some 450 kilos of rubbish, of which 80% was glass. There were, they say, thousands of champagne bottles.
Professional diver Thomas Heise, a German resident for the past 20 years, is the president of Eco Projects Mallorca. He explains that they only collected a part of what was on the seabed - roughly 25%.
The bottles have accumulated over the years. Thomas adds that there is more awareness nowadays, but some of the bottles were recent. Many of the older bottles had to be dug out of the sand. "People behaved worse then. After parties they threw the bottles into the water."
More awareness, but he says that every day some 50 boats, most of them luxury yachts, pass through the area. "And they still throw bottles into the sea with total impunity."
The two-day operation involved the collection and the cleaning of all the stuff that had been collected. This was to ensure that as little sand as possible was removed. The bottles and everything else were then taken away on a trailer.
Eco Projects Mallorca arrange activities such as this once a month. They provide the opportunity for people to help with conservation. "They are enthusiastic, they want to help. You just have to organise the activity. We must maintain the beauty of the islands."