Early Socio-political and Environmental Consequences of the Prestige Oil Spill in Galicia

Bibliographic Data

ID3168618
AuthorsJ D García Pérez (University of Lancashire, corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume27
Issue3
Pages207-223
Publication date2003-09-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDisasters (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0361-3666 • E-ISSN: 1467-7717
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-7717.00229
PMID14524046
OpenAlexW1932435063
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited12

The controversial form in which the oil industry is run has once more caused a huge disaster - this one affecting the Galician coastal environment and economy. Oil-spill clean-up operations have been managed in Europe with some success but with considerable economic, environmental and social costs. The oil industry often avoids fully or even partially compensating those affected. The lack of both political will and political power has let the culprit (the oil industry) off the hook. This paper considers the spill of the Prestige to assess whether the balance of power between affected people and the oil industry can be changed. The paper examines the growing awareness of environmental issues among ordinary people in Spain, through the massive involvement of volunteers concerned with the damage done to the environment and to the livelihoods of fishing communities in Galicia. To understand these growing public concerns and the strength of opinion, the paper examines the details of the decisions taken by the central Spanish and local governments and the way these have informed the clean-up operations, the character of the oil companies involved and the feeling of impotence in the face of such disasters. The conclusion here is that the operations of the oil industry should be tightly regulated through EU legislation, and that this can come about as a result of organised political pressure from those affected by the oil spill, from the mass of volunteers, as well as from public opinion at large

Business · Deregulation · Economic policy · Economics · Economy · Fishing · Fishing industry · Geography · Legislation · Livelihood · Market economy · Petroleum industry · Political science · Politics · Prestige · Public opinion · Engineering · Law · Oil Spill Detection and Mitigation

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