The Soapbox is a weekly news column rounding up stories worth reading for a global university. (Max Van Hosen for WSN)
In Spain, thousands protest unchecked tourism
On Sunday, thousands of Canary Islanders protested the archipelago’s mass tourism, which they claim has priced them out of housing and eroded the islands’ natural environment.
In the past year, prices for private rentals on the islands rose by 27% — prompting local officials to crack down on the market. The islands’ regional government is currently drafting a law to bar newly constructed properties from leasing to tourists, and to grant neighbors of existing rental homes the chance to legally object to short-let permits.
Protesters echoed legislators’ concerns over rentals, but also criticized unchecked tourism more broadly. Under the slogan, “Canary Islands has a limit,” crowds marched through vacation resorts and tourist beaches, chanting phrases such as “This beach is ours.” Many of the issue’s advocates are also concerned about the environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources that has resulted from hosting millions of tourists each year.
“We need a change in the tourist model so it leaves richness here, a change so it values what this land has because it is beautiful,” protester Sara Lopez told Reuters.
Sunday’s demonstration was not the first this year — in April, Canary Islands protesters gathered in Tenerife, the archipelago’s largest island, to decry developments in Spain’s tourism industry. Victor Martín, spokesperson for The Canaries Have Had Enough, said that the regional government should reallocate focus from tourism to combatting effects of the local climate emergency and threats to water supplies.
“We’ve reached the point where the balance between the use of resources and the welfare of the population here has broken down, especially over the past year,” Martín said. “This rethinking of the tourism model could put the Canaries on the map as an example of sustainable tourism development.”
In China, a de-escalation of a 6-decade border dispute
After a four-year standoff, Chinese and Indian officials announced Monday that they had reached an agreement to de-escalate their shared Himalayan border that has left the two countries at odds since a 1962 war.
The cause of the dispute is a 3,400km stretch, along which both countries have hoped to build infrastructure. Deadly face-offs escalated in 2020, when 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers died. Since then, contention regarding the buffer-zones along the border has accompanied continued calls for disengagement. Because the use of guns along the border is forbidden, battles are often fought with clubs and sticks.
The countries have now agreed to a patrolling arrangement — both armies will patrol contested stretches according to a predetermined schedule, meeting monthly to ensure there are no border violations.
“Restoring patrolling rights is the closest we can get to attempting to reach the pre-2020 situation,” said Deependra Singh Hooda, a retired Indian commander for part of the shared border. “It also sets the stage for repairing the ties between the two countries.”
The decision came just a day before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping flew to Russia for a summit with emerging market nations, during which Indian officials hinted that the countries might hold further talks.
In Australia, mysterious black balls wash ashore
Last week, hordes of men in hazmat suits descended onto Sydney’s beaches, after thousands of toxic black balls began appearing on shore. The pollution caused the closure of eight beaches, including the city’s iconic Bondi Beach, that have since reopened to visitors.
After 2,000 of the mysterious balls washed ashore — beginning at Coogee Beach and later stretching along the city’s coast — officials warned the public not to touch or pick them up because of their unknown origin and fear that they could include toxic materials.
The New South Wales Environment Protection Authority has since clarified that the spherical mysteries are made of fatty acids — molecules found in disinfectants and cosmetics — mixed with fuel oil. Laboratory testing has continued to determine the source.
“It is still somewhat of a mystery and may take a few more days to determine origin,” NSWEPA Executive Director Stephen Beaman told Reuters.
Scientists have theorized that the tar balls are the result of an oil spill off the coast or overflow from a nearby sewage treatment plant.
Worried that the invasive spheres are a result of environmental damage that wasn’t reported to authorities, New South Wales environment minister Penny Sharpe told The Guardian she would “throw the book” at anyone found responsible.
Contact Anna Baird-Hassell at [email protected].
This post was originally published on here
