In Asturias and Galicia: Alarm in Spain due to masses of plastic beads washing up

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There is a red alarm in the north of Spain! At least in the regions of Galicia and Asturias. The reason for this is quite bizarre: apparently tons of plastic beads have washed up on the beaches.

As a result, authorities in Asturias and Galicia, Spain, have declared alert level two in their environmental emergency plans. This makes it possible to ask the central government for help in cleaning up the beaches, the newspaper ‘La Voz de Galicia’ reported on Wednesday.

The freighter had lost the pellets

Plastic parts are made from the white balls, so-called pellets, which are almost the size of a lens. They ended up in the sea when several containers containing around 25 tons of beads fell overboard in December. The pellets were packed in plastic bags that tore open in the sea. The current washed them to the beaches of northern Spain.

The shipping company Maersk confirmed that the chartered ship “Toconao” lost six Maersk containers off the Galician coast on December 8 on its way to Rotterdam. The incident was immediately reported to the Spanish and Portuguese coast guards, a Maersk spokesperson said at the request of the German Press Agency.

The shipowners have already commissioned specialized companies to help remove the pellets. The investigation into the cause of the container loss was still ongoing.

Countless volunteers have been trying for days to laboriously clean the beaches by hand using brooms, rakes, shovels and household sieves. Environmentalists warned of the danger that the plastic could enter the food chain if it breaks down over time into microplastics and is ingested by plants and animals. (AFP)

Source: Blick