The Generalitat has communicated the termination of the mining concession to the companies that own and lease the extractive activity of the Ullà quarry, located, in part, on the land of the Montgrí, Illes Medes and Baix Ter Natural Park. Inactive since 2013, the regulations establish that the concession is lost if two years have passed without extractions.
Activity in this quarry began in 1977, before the natural park was created, which dates back to 2010. It continued to maintain its exploitation rights, although it had been inactive for almost a decade.
Last June, as a result of some clearing, cleaning and earthworks work, the Climate Action department learned that the company intended to reactivate the activity of the quarry.
The Generalitat paralyzed this previous work "to protect the birdlife" and postponed any blasting until after the summer as long as "prior recognition by the department was available to avoid negative effects on the nesting of some species."
The director of the Department of Climate Action in Girona, Elisabet Sánchez, explained today in a visit to the area, accompanied by the mayors of Ullà and Torroella de Montgrí, that the report stated that extractive activity was "absolutely incompatible" with protection from the middle
Furthermore, reports from Empresa and Treball, the department responsible for extractive activities, highlighted that since 2013 there had been no activity in the area. "The two-year period for the expiration of mining rights was far exceeded; the activity could not continue," says Sánchez.
From now on, the developer must revise its restoration plan for the area. The general director of Environmental Policies and the Natural Environment, Marc Vilahur, states that the current project "was obsolete" and that the new one must consider the elimination of invasive flora, the nesting of birds of prey, the potential of the area's wetlands, among other aspects The costs of the restoration are borne by the developer.
In this area largely bordering the Parc Natural del Montgrí, Illes Medes and Baix Ter, two species in danger of extinction live: the Bonelli's eagle and the polecat, a mammal similar to the otter. There are also amphibians such as the common midwife toad, the common toad and the natterjack toad. Another small part of the quarry is in a protected area of the park.
Both the mayor of Ullà and that of Torroella have celebrated the decision to close the quarry. "It was a bite at Montgrí that couldn't be," said Ullà's José López. The one from Torroella de Montgrí, Jordi Colomí, described the cessation of extraction as "good news".
