The images shocked the whole of Spain.
On the beaches and on the surface of the Minor Sea, a salt lagoon in the south of the country, millions of fish have been found dead in just ten days.
The culprits: agricultural nitrates dumped into the sea every day, according to experts.
"Between 4000 and 5000 thousand kilograms of nitrates arrive daily which contribute to favor a phenomenon of eutrophication of explosive growth of phytoplankton, which is the main cause which has ended up leading in recent days to the worst episode of fish mortality in the region. lagoon of Mar Menor, following the depletion of oxygen in the water, ”explains Juan Manuel Ruíz Fernández, senior researcher at the Spanish Oceanographic Institute.
Almost two weeks after the first macabre discoveries, Spaniards and tourists gathered along the lagoon to form a human chain of nearly 73 km.
“It was a manifestation of mourning for the death of animals… We wanted people to ask them in one way or another for forgiveness for the barbarity we inflicted on them,” said Jesus Cutillas, one of the organizers.
"For days, we have witnessed the death of millions and millions of fish and see all these unnecessary deaths hurts," he said.
The objective of this action was to "show our determination so that this never happens again", he explained.
For their part, farmers' organizations claim that they scrupulously respect environmental legislation.