- The Red Cross is treating five people who came out of the water with the oil on their skin and has sent them to a medical centre while the Generalitat investigates its origin.
An oil spill of unknown origin has blackened the sand of La Devesa. The contamination, which is almost two kilometres long, has forced the Saler, Arbre del Gos and Garrofera beaches to be closed to bathing, the latter in the early afternoon of Tuesday. All three are located within the Albufera natural park.
The spill has already reached the coast, so the offer of the Port Authority to deploy anti-pollution barriers is not worth accepting. The beaches were closed to bathing at 11am Tuesday morning after bathers warned of the spill.
The Department of the Interior, which is now responsible for the General Directorate of Water, is investigating the cause of the spill, although everything seems to indicate that it is a hydrocarbon.
The General Directorate of Coasts is combing the Gulf of Valencia to see if there are more spills that could reach the beaches. The Valencia City Council has confirmed that the beaches are closed to bathing until further notice.
