"A group of activists from Scientific Rebellion have chained themselves to the Giralda in Seville to protest against the law that aims to legalize irrigated crops in Doñana. Of the twenty protesters who have gathered around the Seville cathedral with banners and flares, six have chained themselves to the bars at the foot of the most iconic monument in the Andalusian capital and two to the bell tower.
Javier Castroviejo: “Doñana is on the brink of disappearance due to the impunity of those responsible and the failure to comply with the laws”
Javier Castroviejo: “Doñana is on the brink of disappearance due to the impunity of those responsible and the failure to comply with the laws”
It is worth remembering that the initiative promoted by PP and Vox in the Parliament of Andalusia has the frontal rejection of the scientific community, the CSIC, the director of the Doñana Participation Council, the environmental associations, the central Government and the European Commission, which considers that if this bill is applied, the national park would be “deteriorated”.
The action took place shortly after 3:00 p.m., by surprise, among the people who were in the Virgen de Los Reyes square in Seville, in front of the Giralda, the activists approached the base of the Sevillian tower and They have been chained with padlocks around their necks. Of the activists who have participated in the protest, the majority have held banners with their demands, while six of them have chained themselves to the bars of the Cathedral door. Two more have been at the access to the Giralda viewpoint, and it has been necessary to close visits to the monument until the protest has ended.
With colored flares and two banners on one of which read “Doñana resists” and on the other “Faced with the climate emergency: Action plan now!”, they have protested to “denounce the ecocide that intends to be carried out in Doñana and climate inaction on the part of our governments,” as expressed by the participants themselves.
Furthermore, they demand “an immediate action plan, in accordance with the recommendations of science and with the participation of the entire society, through tools of participatory democracy, such as binding citizen assemblies.”
After knowing the details of what the Andalusian Parliament is processing, a bill from the PP and Vox to expand irrigation in towns in the northern crown of Doñana, where strawberry and red fruit plantations abound, this organization has been launched.
“Symbol of climate denialism”
Jesús Castillo, professor of Ecology at the University of Seville, has maintained at all times that it was “a totally peaceful action of civil disobedience,” and has asked himself: “what would happen if the Seville Cathedral or the Giralda were dismantled?” and take out their bricks to make tourist apartments? Well, both Doñana and Giralda are UNESCO Heritage Sites,” he recalled.
Activists have drawn attention with banners and flares. F.C.
For her part, Verónica Huber, professor at the University of Munich, maintains that “Doñana is a symbol of climate denialism,” and remembers that “this is approved as a moment of emergency due to the drought. The Board promises more water, it is absurd, and we are closing our eyes to the reality of climate change.
The activists who have chained themselves to the bars of the Cathedral have been identified by members of the National Police. An hour after the protest began, the firefighters broke the padlocks and the protest was dissolved, amid the applause of the many people, mostly tourists, who were at that moment in the access area to the Giralda.
Organizers
Scientific Rebellion was founded in 2020 to urge the scientific and academic community to join nonviolent civil resistance to the climate crisis. “We have relied on writings and reports for decades and that has gotten us nowhere. It is time for people in the scientific community to begin taking direct action against the greatest threat in our history,” they explain on their social networks."
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