Mallorca Olive Press - Issue 74

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Unlike its well-heeled residents don’t needyou deep pock to enjoy ets the wealth of natural wonders Benahavisin writes Joan, ne Oakley

LEAMING like a white hills above pearl in the no is the crown Marbella, Benaha wonder, classic white jewel of Andaluc vis Grant, Rod with the likes of villages sons. visitors Stewart for so many ia’s do contribu and Cristian Hugh Most famous rea- The ting to the o Ronally, it’s the village cipality town billionaires is second home hall coffers. wealthie in the region andrichest munineighbouringwho have bought to a host of the second average st per capita in property income La Zagalet swankie pushing all Spain with in €29,000. Putin is st private urbanis a, Andalucia’s reported And ly one - ation. Vladimir although the Continue

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Westminster vs Wellington The British dukes of hazard battling to be Spain’s biggest property moguls

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Why is Spain’s second richest town in a rural backwater of Andalucia?

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Find out on p9

Boffin breakthrough ZOOMED IN: Microscope image of ‘wonder substance’

Mallorca scientists develop material capable of absorbing microplastics from the sea

Trashy tourism means exactly that

By Isha Sesay

BOFFINS in the Balearics have come up with an ingenious invention that can absorb microplastics from the sea. The team at Mallorca University (UIB) made the breakthrough while conducting experiments in the lab. Based on the doctorate of PHD student Mateo del Rio, the team discovered a material that can extract pollutants from water, including dyes and plastics. Team leader doctor Gemma Turnes hopes that it can now be used as a magnet to remove pollutants from the sea and other bodies of water. The Chemistry Faculty researcher added it was extremely stable, both 16/06/2017 15:36 chemically and thermally and is easy to regenerate.

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ISLAND REVOLUTION: Hybrid substance filters out pollution of contaminated water, and could serve to monitor sea pollution, possibly leading to larger scale projects. The young chemist stressed the need to raise awareness about safeguarding Exploitation the environment. According to his study, published in “You have to locate where the probthe ACS Applied Materials & Inter- lems are in order to act as soon as faces scientific journal, the material possible and respond to natural disascan extract pollutants from water in ters,” he added. just ten minutes. His hybrid substance has a metal-orIt can be used to clean small samples ganic structure (MOF-74) and porous carbon. There is currently much concern about the overexploitation of natural resources, which has led to a UK BASED range of measures being rolled out across the island. Between Mallorca and Menorca alone, Researcher del Rio had always focused his doctoral thesis on solving water pollution problems.

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Vol. 3 Issue 74 www.theolivepress.es February 21st - March 5th, 2020

Bundles in Benahavis

INVESTIGATORS have once again inspected the pool which took the lives of three British holidaymakers in Andalucia on Christmas Eve. It comes after a Malaga judge allowed a ‘parallel’ probe be launched by the Diya family into how the pool at the Club La Costa World Resort, in Mijas, could have killed dad Gabriel, 52, daughter Comfort, aged nine and son Emmanuel, 16. The site was visited by an engineer, professional diver and an assistant. The experts carried out several tests in front of the Diya family lawyer Javier Toro. Guests of the hotel remained lounging on sunbeds as the diver entered the water for around half an hour. He took photos of all areas of the pool, focusing on its suction systems and drains. The group then introduced a piece of cloth into the water and analysed how it reacted to the suction system. They then did the same with a swimming cap, similar to that of Comfort’s, which had been found by Guardia Civil officers in the main drain of the purification system following the tragic incident.

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A DAMNING study has found that 50% of the Med’s beach plastic ‘comes from tourists’. The project, by Blueislands, compared plastic and other waste on three different beaches on eight different islands. It found that 80% of beach litter was plastic, with tourism ‘directly’ accounting for 50% of the plastics. On each island the researchers looked at a busy tourist beach, a less popular locals beach and one almost ‘untouched’. In Mallorca, Calvia’s Playa de Tora, Es Caragol, near Santanyi, and the natural beach of Sa Canova near Arta, were studied. Rubbish, including micro-plastics and small particles, was collected, catalogued and analysed at intervals throughout the year. Other islands in the study included Mykonos, Malta, Crete and Sicily. it is estimated that some 752 million plastic particles weighing a total of 3.7 tons are present in the sea. The vast majority are microplastics of less than five millimetres in size, as detailed in a recent study by the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies. Opinion Page 6

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