Skip to main content

Sand plundered from Western Sahara covers beach in Canary Islands

Submitted on

London, July 29, 2017 (SPS) - Tauro beach in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands), once rocky, has been covered in sand illegally taken from the last African colony, Western Sahara, as noted by an investigation conducted by British newspaper the Guardian published on Saturday.
Titled “Trouble in Paradise,” the Guardian’s investigation stressed that the project to cover the rocky beach with 70,000 tons of sand was done “in breach of international law and in defiance of the last African colony, the occupied territory of Western Sahara.”
It is noted that the Spanish authorities launched an investigation on the issue and that experts in human rights said that “if the sand that covers the Gran Canaria beach comes from the occupied State, it would be a violation to the UN Security Council’s resolutions and the decision of the International Court of Justice.”
The Guardian said that the International Court of Justice clearly states that the natural resources of an occupied territory cannot be exploited by the occupant, unless it benefits the local population. (SPS)
062/090/APS