The Ecologistas en Accion, Granada, have published the results of the annual awards that are dedicated to pointed out who has acted done the most to destroy the environment during the year, whose aim is to shame the prize winners.
The prizes go to: Rector’s Board of the Universiada, comprising of the City Hall of Granada, the Provincial Council of Granada, the University of Granada, the Junta de Andalucia, together with the Higher Board of Sports (CSD) and the Federaciones Españolas de Deportes de Invierno y Hielo.
This all-star cast wins an Attila Award for “starting out with a bluff to sell to the general public a fantastic event with a shower of millions in investment for creating work posts.” With a global budget for 250m euros (118 public and the rest private investment) the world was their oyster. This “fairy tale” as the ecologist put it, envisaged a sort of Olympic village in Serrallo, a huge pavilion Fuente Nueva (University’s Ice Hall). The Olympic village was to have 306 dwellings on a 150.000-m plot as well as two “ice palaces.”
However, after being run past the Federación Internacional de Deporte Universitario (FISU) the budgets down to 18m euros.
All this has had negative results on the environment, thanks to the hurried construction of a half-pipe track (ignoring all the building and environmental laws), which has ripped up the landscaped, caused havoc with the natural water sources and wiped out protected species of high-sierra plant life.
Another farce and prize winner is the Consortium for the Commemoration of the First Millennium since the founding of the Kingdom of Granada, which is made up two Central Government members, two Junta de Andalucia members and a representative from each one of the provinces of Granada, Jaén, Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba y Málaga and a representative from the Granada City Hall, all on a tidy earner, of course.
The prime objective of this consortium was to foster an opportunity for cultural and economic development; using the past to vitalize the present, sort of thing. It was even classified as of exceptional public interest in the Ley de Presupuestos Generales del Estado para 2010. The then First Minister of the Junta, Manuel Chávez, foresaw that by 2013 the high-speed train, the A-7 coastal autovia and an enlarged Granada airport would be in place to cater for the hordes of visitors. Wrong.
The Palacio de los Enríquez and the building where the provincial branch of the Bank of Spain were to be remodelled and a Millennium Park built.
Well, the only activity, apart from the appointment and resignations of different Chairmen has been bungled attempts to restore Ziríe Walls, declared natural heritage in 1922. In fact, when new sections of the wall turned up in the centre of the city (Calle Silencio &
And finally, another Attila Award goes to the Puelva factory, which has gobbled up part of the vega to make way for a large parking area.
The ecologists also have awards for people who have worked to preserve the environment, which are entitled, Premios Aguas de Mayo, which has been awarded to a work group for the sustainable mobility in Granada. This group of citizens have worked tirelessly to make Granada more habitable by regulating traffic in a rational manner and supporting public transport and such alternatives and on bicycle or on foot.
(News: Granada, Andalucia)