Three out of every four discharges into the sea in the Canary Islands are unauthorised and are publicly owned. This was confirmed by the Minister of Ecological Transition of the Government of the Canary Islands, Mariano Hernández Zapata, who blames the “indifference and lack of support” of the local councils that are responsible for managing the discharges.
“The local institutions face personnel and resource challenges in tackling the issue,” Zapata stated when questioned in a parliamentary committee.
In total, he mentioned that the Archipelago has 351 land-sea discharges, of which 240 “are awaiting regulation, and of these, 69% are publicly owned.”
