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At conference, regional first ministers join chorus of opposition to planned prospections, surveys

Foto conf pres 2018CiF president Jaume Ferrer met today at the Eivissa Council with Balearic chief Francina Armengol and their opposite numbers across the islands.

As attendees prepared to depart, Ferrer described the day as “immensely productive” and confided, “it's always a good thing to sit down with the other first ministers and the regional president and talk about the issues affecting all of us”.

On that note, Ferrer gave voice to concerns surrounding permits for hydrocarbon exploration in local waters. “Formentera is opposed to these projects. We expressed it unanimously in plenary assembly, and encourage our counterparts across the islands to act in kind”, he declared. Put simply, “if we fail to protect our natural surroundings as ecological havens, we can forget about tourism and fishing resources”.

At the meeting's close, attendees formalised their commitment to keeping the Mediterranean free of exploration and surveying. They signed a document urging the Madrid government to join the Balearic administrations in blocking projects which stand to jeopardise nearby marine wildlife and the Mediterranean Sea at large.