by Gabriel Rei-Doval, Planet 163

I write these words on the first anniversary of the Prestige disaster, an ecological catastrophe that took place off the Galician coast on 13 November, 2002. I have deliberately delayed the writing of the article until now in order to gain greater perspective on the event and the repercussions that have cascaded through Galician society in its wake. For many, Galicia was a name difficult to locate on the map before the Prestige affair and indeed, never in recent European history has the name been repeated in the media so frequently. There is a dark irony here, very Galician in tone: a nation which has sought to reaffirm its identity — despite the recent fascist dictatorship and the long-term linguistic and cultural effects of political repression, marginalisation and colonisation — suddenly receives the attention of the world’s media because of the grotesque events surrounding an oil spill.

Geographically, Galicia is the European Finisterre, that western headland which sailors encounter when travelling from the Northern to the Southern Atlantic or to the Mediterranean. From ancient times, shipwrecks have been documented in the area, which is why it is known as the Costa da morte, the Death Coast, famed for its erratic storms and their fatal consequences for fragile ships. The effects of globalisation on oil consumption and the subsequent sea traffic from Northern Europe to and from the rest of the world has resulted in five serious oil tanker accidents in the past three decades. However, on 13 November 2002 these were dwarfed by what was arguably the most catastrophic maritime ecological disaster in Europe. What follows is a brief account of events which marked a watershed — perhaps — in my country’s history.

At 3.00pm that day, the oil-tanker ironically called Prestige, sailing under a Bahamas flag on course for Gibraltar, sprang a leak when 28 miles off the coast of Finisterre. Carrying 77,000 tons of heavy fuel, a derivative of oil particularly toxic and resilient, it was a single-hulled ship and 25 years old. Its condition would have prevented it from operating in US territorial waters. The hull was damaged by the accumulative force of the waves, in heavy weather which was to make rescue work difficult. The following day the ship was only four miles off the coastal town of Muxía. A disagreement between the government and different private-sector companies involved in the salvage operation, however, hindered a decisive plan of action. In an increasingly chaotic situation, instead of taking the ship to a safe haven where the oil could be transferred to another vessel, the tanker was towed for six days through Spanish and Portuguese waters on what appeared to be a haphazard and grotesque tourist cruise. At the same time the opinion of the scientific community was ignored. As a result, on the weekend of 16-17 November, the first of many black tides devastated the Galician coast, renowned for its rich maritime life and outstanding natural beauty. Then on Tuesday 19 November, the tanker split in two 140 miles off the Cíes Islands and started to disperse an immense river of oil. Later that day, the ship sank and came to rest 2 miles below the surface.

As well as Galicia, the oil spill affected the whole of the Cantabrian coast and Portugal, plus the western coast of France; traces of the spill have even reached Britain and the Canary Islands. However, the worst affected area was the Galician coast in its entirety, from the south, near Portugal, to the north-east, bordering Asturias. As a result, a strict fishing ban was introduced for several months.

                 The town of Muxia after the first black tide, Roberto Ribao.