ONE of south-eastern Spain's most unusual and popular coastal enclaves is the first to be given 'legal personality' in history – meaning it automatically has 'rights' at law.
Aerial view of the Mar Menor, a mostly-inland sea and Europe's largest salt lake (photo: Wikimurcia)
Normally, humans and corporations or other organisations, profit- or non-profit-making, hold 'legal personality', which means they are responsible for their actions at law as an individual or collective, and that they have specific rights as well as duties – but a body of water in the public domain has never before been recognised in this way.
The aim is to ensure the Mar Menor enjoys the 'fundamental right' to conservation and protection, and its status has been approved by the Senate following a petition started two years ago that has gathered over 600,000 signatures.
Banco de Tabal beach in San Javier, one of at least five on La Manga that earned a blue flag for 2022. Water quality has to be excellent to gain or keep this kitemark, which proves that the Mar Menor's ‘oxygen crisis’ is episodic, not a continuous state (photo: Murcia regional tourism board)
Organisers of this petition filed what is known as a People's Legislative Initiative (ILP) calling for the Mar Menor to be granted legal rights and be considered an 'entity' at law.
Curious geography of Europe's largest salt lake
The Mar Menor, in the single-province region of Murcia, is generally thought of as a sea coast, but in practice, it is the largest salt lake in Europe.
It is land-bordered on three-and-a-half sides, so it is fed by the Mediterranean but almost entirely enclosed.
This narrow strip of inhabited land, known as La Manga, separates what is essentially a salt lake from the Mediterranean sea (photo by the public sector workers' and pensioners' protection association, AESFAS - Aesfas.org)
The thin strip or istmus that 'closes' the Mar Menor off from the Mediterranean is 21 kilometres (13 miles) long, but only between 100 metres (109.3 yards, or 328 feet) and 1.2 kilometres (three-quarters of a mile) wide.
Centuries ago, it was wider still – remains of Roman settlements have been found submerged either side.
It is often referred to as a miniature Baja California, except that its tip rejoins the land.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com