Thousands of demonstrators, both on boats and on land, gathered in northwest Spain on Saturday to voice their opposition to a proposed textile factory and the re-opening of a copper mine.
In the coastal of A Pobra do Caramiñal, located in the Galicia region, protesters raised concerns over the potential environmental impact of both projects.
The demonstration, referred to by organisers as a ‘surf and turf’ protest, targeted plans by Portuguese company Altri to establish a facility for producing lyocell, a semi-synthetic textile. Protesters expressed skepticism, fearing that the project was a pretext for constructing a cellulose plant that could lead to pollution in the Ulloa River and the Arousa Estuary.
The proposed site for the factory is in Palas de Rei, near a well-travelled section of the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.
The event was spearheaded by the Platform for the Defence of the Arousa Estuary, which also opposed the proposed re-opening of an open-cast copper mine in Touro, situated east of Santiago de Compostela. The mine had previously ceased operations in 1986.
Manoel Santos, a regional representative of Greenpeace, warned that the Altri textile plant ´could spell the death of the Arousa Estuary’.
Despite the backlash, Galicia’s regional government has deemed the project environmentally viable.
A spokeswoman for Greenfiber, the Altri subsidiary managing the project, dismissed pollution concerns, telling Galician public television that the facility ‘scrupulously respects all EU environmental rules’.
Miles de personas marchan en A Pobra, La Coruña, contra la planta de Altri.
— Telediarios de TVE (@telediario_tve) March 22, 2025
Altri pide menos “bulos” y “respeto” para su proyecto de producir en Palas de Rei fibras textiles sostenibles de celulosa.
🎙️ Informa Alba V. Coloret
▶️ https://t.co/ZgJQU9hav8 pic.twitter.com/ImRQk8On6R
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