Almeria’s sea of plastic

If you have ever flown over or driven through Almeria, you will have noticed the sea of white plastic greenhouses, but did you know they are visible from space?

Almeria is one of Europe’s driest regions but has become a significant hub for greenhouse agriculture due to its access to groundwater and abundant sunshine. 

Almeria’s greenhouses are a major supplier of off-season produce

The first greenhouse was built in 1963, and the technique spread across Campo de Dalias (Poniente Almeriense) and later to Campo de Nijar in the east.

The system enables two to three harvests annually, significantly increasing productivity.

Today, the greenhouses now cover more than 40,000 hectares (150 square miles) across Campo de Dalias and neighbouring areas, and produce an estimated 2.5 to 3.5 million tonnes of fruits and vegetables annually, making the region a major supplier of off-season produce, including tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and melons, for Europe. 

A key innovation in these greenhouses is the use of polyethene plastic instead of glass, a method first tested in the Canary Islands and Catalonia. 

El Ejido greenhouses labelled a “sea of plastic” – visible from Space

The plastic, stretched over wooden or metal structures, intensifies heat and maintains humidity, and environmentalists have taken to label the El Ejido region a “sea of plastic” due to the vast greenhouses covering the landscape, covering around 370 square kilometres, making it easily discernible from the International Space Station.  

On May 24, 2022, NASA’s Landsat 9 captured natural-colour images of the expansive plastic greenhouses around El Ejido, the area with one of the highest concentrations of greenhouses in the world.

These plastic-covered greenhouses are so extensive that they may have caused a localised cooling effect.

The white roofs reflect a large amount of sunlight, increasing surface albedo. University of Almeria researchers, using NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites, found that the albedo increased by nearly 10 per cent between 1983 and 2006. 

This likely contributed to a localised cooling of 0.3 degrees Celsius per decade in Almeria, compared to a regional warming trend of 0.5 degrees Celsius per decade. 

However, beginning in the 2000s, the region has also been criticised for its treatment of immigrant greenhouse workers, mostly from Africa, including large numbers of Moroccans.

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