The Cabinet of Natural Studies of La Axarquía, GENA-Ecologistas en Acción, has denounced the growth of a "mango cultivation bubble" in this region of Malaga, which is the country's largest producer of this subtropical fruit.
GENA President Rafael Yus explained in a statement that during this year his group has observed "an unusual increase" in the amount of land transactions and the irrigation of great extensions of land that were formerly listed as dry lands.
Yus affirmed that this growth rate has all the characteristics of "an economic bubble" around mangoes, which have become the flagship crop in these rain-fed lands.
He pointed out that there is "uncontrolled" growth on the part of the local and provincial authorities, not only because of the great clearings being made with heavy machinery, but also because of the unsustainable consumption of water resources, taking into account that there is a pressure group of irrigators that demand water transfers with a strong environmental impact.
GENA has warned against this bubble in a report made public on the occasion of the World Environment Day, which also warns that, although at a slower pace than before, housing is still being built on non-buildable land in La Axarquía.
As for the state of the coast, the ecology group has denounced "an intolerable process of degradation of the coast by an extreme mercantilization of the same" by all kinds of businesses.
Source: EFE
