Page 13 - aruba-today-20220923

BUSINESS Friday 23 September 2022
A13

Spain gives personhood status to Mar Menor salt- HEALTH

water lagoon DOCTOR ON DUTY
Oranjestad
Hospital 7:00 pm / 10:00pm
Tel. 527 4000
By JOSEPH WILSON
Associated Press San Nicolas
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) Imsan 24 hours
Tel.524 8833
— Spain granted person-
hood status Wednesday to Women in Difficulties
what environmentalists call PHARMACY ON DUTY
Europe’s largest salt-water Oranjestad:
lagoon, which has suffered Santa Cruz tel. 585 8028
San Nicolas:
massive die-offs of marine Centro medico tel. 584 5794
life as it degrades due to Women in Difficulties
coastal development and OTHER
local farming. The new law Dental Clinic 587 9850
came after a citizen-led Blood Bank Aruba 587 0002
push to provide better pro- Urgent Care 586 0448
tection for the threatened Walk-In Doctor’s Clinic
ecosystem. +297 588 0539
Women in Difficulties
The initiative backed by EMERGENCY
more than 600,000 citi-
zens will become law af- Police 100
ter Spain’s Senate in Ma- Oranjestad 527 3140
drid voted in favor of the Noord 527 3200
proposal to grant the Mar Sta. Cruz 527 2900
584 5000
San Nicolas
Menor lagoon on Spain’s Police Tipline 11141
southeastern coast the sta- Ambulancia 911
tus of personhood, the first Fire Dept. 115
time such a measure has Red Cross 582 2219
been taken in Spain. A man collects dead fish that have appeared by the shore of the Isle of Ciervo off La Manga, part TAXI SERVICES
of the Mar Menor lagoon in Murcia, Spain, Aug. 19, 2021.
A total of 1,600 square kilo- Associated Press Taxi Tas 587 5900
meters (994 square miles) Prof. Taxi 588 0035
of the lagoon and the Taxi D.T.S. 587 2300
nearby Mediterranean proved 20 million euros María Moreno said before Taxi Serv. Aruba 583 3232
coastline will now be legal- ($19.7 million) in aid to im- the vote. A1 Taxi Serv. 280 2828
ly represented by a group prove water treatment in The law codifies the la- Women in Difficulties
of caretakers made up of towns near the Mar Menor goon’s right “to exist as an TRAVEL INFO
local officials, local citizens as part of a recovery plan ecosystem and to evolve Aruba Airport 524 2424
and scientists who work in for the lagoon. naturally” and recognizes American Airlines 582 2700
the area. The grassroots “So that natural disasters its right to protection, con- Avianca 588 0059
group that pushed the like those that have oc- servation and restoration. Jet Blue 588 2244
measure hopes this will im- curred, so that the epi- In 2017, New Zealand Surinam 582 7896
prove the ability to defend sodes of mortality of fauna passed a groundbreaking Women in Difficulties
the lagoon from further of the Mar Menor don’t re- law granting personhood AID FOUNDATIONS
degradation. turn, let’s give this ecosys- status to the Whanganui
The World Wildlife Fund tem its own rights,” Senator River.q FAVI- Visually Impaired
Tel. 582 5051
calls the Mar Menor Eu-
rope’s largest salt-water la- Alcoholics Anonymous
Tel. 736 2952
goon. It’s home to several Narcotics Anonymous
species of fish, seahorses Tel. 583 8989
and the endangered Eu- Fundacion Contra Violencia
ropean eel. The lagoon, Relacional Tel. 583 5400
which covers 135 square ki- Centre for Diabetes
lometers (84 square miles), Tel. 524 8888
is separated from the open Child Abuse Prevention
sea by a thin strip of land 22 Tel. 582 4433
kilometers (13.7 miles) long Quota Club Tel. 525 2672
Women in Difficulties
that is a popular vacation General Info
spot dotted with hotels.
For years, ecologists and Phone Directory Tel. 118
citizens have denounced
the periodic die-offs of ma-
rine life in the lagoon due
to the runoff of fertilizers
from nearby farms.
In 2019, over 50,000 people
marched in the nearby
city of Cartagena to de-
nounce the degradation
of the lagoon. This month,
Spain’s government ap- facebook.com/arubatoday/