By David Jackson
More than 1,500 preventable deaths a year can be attributed to pollution from the nation’s 15 coal fired power plants, according to a report from environmental organisation Ecologistas en Acción. The report, which is backed by the European society for respiratory illnesses and the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), estimates that half a million work days a year were lost to respiratory illnesses last year, including more than 1,000 cases of chronic bronchitis in adults and 48,000 asthma attacks in children, which cost Spain’s health service in excess of €4.6 billion to treat.
One of the most contaminating plants is the Carboneras coal-fired power plant. Owned by Italian conglomerate Enel – Endesa, the plant is said to have caused 177 preventable deaths and exacerbated thousands of respiratory problems.
