Town hall and residents say NO fish farm expansion in Calpe, Alicante

CALPE town hall is organising a protest on May 29 against plans to enlarge the fish farm off the coast.

Starting at 12 noon in the fishing port, demonstrators will march between the Lonja fish market and the harbour arm.

Last April, the town hall lodged an appeal against plans to allow the fish farm to add 45 more cages, multiplying its existing size by six.

To date there has been no response from the regional government’s Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries department, responsible for authorising the increase.

Calpe town hall opposes the Generalitat’s authorisation on technical grounds, including flaws in the Environmental Impact Assessment, but also points out that the municipality stands to lose €450 million.

These claims are backed by a report from environmental consultants, Geoinnova, and an economic study by the town hall’s Tourist and Economic Promotion section.

“Despite statements questioning the  environmental, social and economic sustainability of a bigger fish farm, the regional government continues to ignore us,” Calpe mayor Ana Sala said.

“Neither does it understand the multimillion losses that the fish farm means for local businesses or the environmental damage it would bring.”

Sala went on to say that the town hall would continue to insist that enlarging the fish farm was “an aberration” and would continue to ask the regional government to annul the authorisation.

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