The NGO Seo/BirdLife and the citizen platform Guggheinheim Urdaibai Stop have launched a collection of signatures in defence of the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve. To the Guggenheim Foundation “to demand that it renounce the destruction” of this ecosystem. In recent years there have been protests against this project and through a statement released by Seo/BirdLife have indicated that it is a “threat that will generate critical and irreversible impacts” for the values of the reserve. In addition, they argue that this environment is “a living museum in itself”, as “it is a spectacular landscape full of biological diversity, culture and history.” They have also pointed out that the region of Urdaibai has an important tourist destination without this project.

The objective of the agents is to obtain 1,300,000 signatures. This is the number of visitors that the Bilbaíno museum receives each year. They want to transfer to the project managers that the citizens reject the construction of two seats proposed in the reserve, one of them in the “heart of the estuary”. The Basque Government considers that the project will have an environmental, cultural and social impact.

Critics with institutions

In the opinion of Seo/BirdLife and Guggheinheim Urdaibai Stop, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the Basque Government and the Government of Spain “forget” the objective of the reservation: “Maintain a good state of conservation of species and habitats and make them compatible with the sustainable and orderly development of the region.” They have also denounced that they have no arguments to justify the need for the project. They stress that the reserve is a Special Conservation and Special Conservation Area for Birds, and is included in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and the RAMSAR convention on wetlands of international importance.

At the beginning of the year, Lakua and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia announced the project’s closure for two years, as the patron of the Bilbaíno museum wants to take some time to “reflect” on the project. However, the Guggenheim Urdaibai Stope noted that the stop is not “acceptable” and will continue to work “until the project is definitively suspended”.

Lack of transparency, rejection of premises and high cost

In June of this year, as every year, the ecologist group Ekologistak Martxan has published the report Banderas Negras. The black flag for pollution in Bizkaia was given over to this project, specifically because of the pollution that is affecting Gernika and Murueta. They highlighted three reasons: the lack of transparency in project information, the rejection of the local population and the high cost to pay. It is the second year in a row that the hooded train of the Concha receives the black flag.