The City-Port Commission has gathered this Friday in the streets of Valencia representatives of more than 170 social groups and associations to say “no” to the expansion of the port, a project that is “fatal” and “harmful” for the environment and compared to those who demand a “more sustainable” urban model.
The demonstration started from Paseo de la Alameda, headed by a banner with the slogan “Pensem local, actuem global. No a l’ampliació del port” (‘Let’s think local, act globally. No to the expansion of the port) and will end in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento after visiting the Exposición bridge, the Porta de la Mar and Colón, Xàtiva and Marqués de Sotelo streets.
At the beginning of the march, the member of the Comisssió Antonio Montiel pointed out that the protest has “a lot to do” with the defense of the territory and with health; He has asserted that it is a “lie” that the port has exhausted its useful life and has warned that this expansion will help a private shipping company “make a killing” and the Valencians spend 4,000 million on the infrastructures that it will force.
Another member of the Comissió, Javier Canales, has indicated that they hope to exceed the 10,000 participants in the demonstration that they held 600 days ago against a decision that, as he explained, entails environmental problems, since it puts the beaches in the south of the city and the Albufera at risk. , and problems to the local economy.
In the demonstration it was possible to see a large yellow Chinese dragon with the logo of the MSC shipping company and figures of flamingos from the Albufera with the words “extinction” or “rebelión”, and the protest was accompanied by the music of dolçaina and tabalet, from charangas and the castles of the Young Muixeranga de Valencia.
Among the participants in the protest there are representatives of political parties, such as Compromís, Sumar or Esquerra Unida, including the acting mayor of Valencia and co-spokesperson for Compromís, Joan Ribó, who has indicated that there have been three years to make a new declaration of environmental impact of an extension in which the beaches, the Albufera and the mobility model are “at stake”.
Environmental organizations, such as Per L’Horta, Agro or Ecologists in Action, and trade unions, such as Intersindical and CGT, also participate in the march, in which posters are sold with phrases such as “Ramonet, if you go to the garden don’t breathe” , “More vegetables, less smoke” or “Climate emergency now”.
In October 2021 there was already a demonstration against this project that brought together more than ten thousand people according to the conveners, who vindicate the citizen struggle that in the past managed to stop the urbanization of El Saler, the construction of a highway in the old bed of the Turia or stop the destruction of the Cabañal neighborhood.
When the protest reaches the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, a manifesto will be read, in which they will warn of the consequences of this port expansion, which according to this commission, which has been fighting for five years, will destroy the southern beaches, threaten La Albufera, destroy posts work and will force the construction of a new access to the port for truck traffic.
The conveners assure that with this expansion of the port, at the height of the climate emergency, it will not be possible to develop the model of sustainable city that is needed to face climate change, since among other consequences the project would mean an increase in polluting emissions
