An anonymous group of workers in the nautical sector warned on Friday that the southern coast of Mallorca has become a graveyard for small boats due to the inaction of the authorities. In a statement, the group said that the stretch between Caragol beach and Cape Ses Salines, within a marine reserve, has been filled with abandoned boats.
Parallel to the serious humanitarian crisis caused by the opening of the migration route between Algeria and Mallorca, which has already claimed the lives of hundreds of people, a ‘silent but alarming environmental crisis’ is brewing, they said, pointing to the town councils of Ses Salines and Santanyí, PortsIB, Salvamento Marítimo, Costas and the Guardia Civil.
The workers’ group added that in the last two years, a dozen boats have been stranded or sunk in this protected stretch of coastline. Once the migrants have been rescued, the boats are marked by the Guardia Civil and then abandoned at sea, posing a serious risk to navigation and a severe ecological impact due to the decomposition and fragmentation of these fibreglass boats in the marine ecosystem.
According to the group, the situation is exacerbated by the repeated refusal of the head of the port of Colònia de Sant Jordi to accept these boats, even when they are towed by private sailors or by official coastal cleaning or posidonia anchoring control vessels. The group has acknowledged that the port does selectively accept boats arriving at the Cabrera Maritime-Terrestrial National Park, with their final destination at the Son Tous depot, while systematically rejecting those coming from the coast near the port itself.
The workers have stressed that they are forced to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals from their employers and the authorities. ‘On several occasions we have tried to file formal complaints with the Guardia Civil, but we have been dissuaded and warned of the possible negative consequences for us,’ they stated.