PETROLEUM giant REPSOL plans to start drilling for oil off the coasts of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote between October and December this year in the hope of finding fossil fuel in the eastern Atlantic.
A state-of-the-art vessel will drill into the sea bed 885 metres down and 60 kilometres off the shores of the Canary Island of Fuerteventura as soon as the ministry of industry and energy, led by José Manuel Soria, grants the required permit.
Widespread protests throughout the islands by environmental campaigners, members of the opposition, residents and fishermen have been ongoing for months as they fear oil extraction will spell the end of the beach tourism and fishing industries and destroy sea life.
REPSOL's public relations officer Antonio Brufau has attempted to explain what will be involved to try to alleviate their fears, although so far with little success.
He insists that if the company does indeed strike black gold, it will spell a 'before and after' for the region since 'the wealth that would derive' from the operations, complete with the cooperation of multinational companies and complete fuel industry would 'bring in billions of dollars' in revenue to the Canary Islands.
With REPSOL's experience in oil-drilling, it is 'in their genes' to guarantee the process is as safe as possible, and the company stresses there is no room for spillage or accidents due to its responsible manner of working, Brufau insists.
Spain imports over 100 million euros' worth of fuel every day, meaning that if the country turned out to have its own reserves, the cost to the taxpayer would dramatically reduce.
Four or five specific points which may contain oil are due to be explored between the Canaries and Morocco, and the 'signs are positive', Brufau considers.
Rather than worrying about hypothetical damage to the environment, the region should be 'planning to welcome a burgeoning industry' that could turn out to be 'of enormous financial interest', Brufau continues.
In the very beginning, a new oil industry in the Canary Islands would create between 3,000 and 5,000 new jobs, the PR officer explains.
Concerning the argument that the extraction plans would destroy the beach tourism industry, Brufau maintains that 'whoever believes that does not know the full story'.
He cited numerous coasts around the world with a thriving holiday sector and idyllic beaches that were not affected at all by oil rigs.
Industry minister José Manuel Soria has told the dissenters that Spain 'cannot afford the luxury' of choosing not to find out if it has oil reserves off its coasts, given the difference it would make to the economy and the country's current devastating unemployment figures.
Similar protests are taking place all along the east coast of the mainland and in Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca and Formentera.
Plans are afoot to drill for oil between the Gulf of Valencia and the Balearic Islands, and members of the public, those whose jobs depend upon beach holidaymakers, fishermen and local councillors are up in arms for the same reasons as their Canary Island counterparts.
But in these areas, a gradually-expanding group of pro-fracking campaigners – mainly northern European expatriates – are coming out of the woodwork.
Referring to the paradise beaches of Venezuela and Brazil, the natural and unspoilt coastlines of Norway and New Zealand, the former's thriving salmon and cod fishing sectors, and the popular North Sea coastline in England, they point out that little environmental damage has been done and tourism has not suffered in the slightest.
And Spain needs the money and the jobs, stress the campaigners.
