In 2016, civil engineer Carlos Mallo was working on the so-called "insular ring" of Tenerife, a road that would connect the north and south of the island and, in theory, decongest the roads. A decade later, Mallo has traveled an almost inverse path and now advocates for the dismantling of unnecessary infrastructures: "We are late," he says in an interview with Efe.
This Monday he receives one of the seven Goldman Prizes, known as the 'Green Nobels', which the American environmental foundation awards each year to the most outstanding activists in the protection of the planet. Last year, another Spaniard, Professor Teresa Vicente, also received the award for her defense of the Mar Menor.
The foundation recognizes Mallo's leadership as an activist against the construction of the Fonsalía mega-port, in Guía de Isora (Tenerife), and in the protection of the Teno-Rasca marine area of special conservation through his NGO Innoceana.
Question: How does a civil engineer end up mobilizing against works like the port of Fonsalía?
Answer: Until 2016 I worked as an engineer on the construction of the insular ring and one of the parts was the Fonsalía branch. I fell in love with the area, I went diving and something changed in my brain when I learned that the road we were building was for the mega-port. I decided to jump into the void, leave everything and set up an NGO focused on preventing it from being destroyed.
Q: Regarding those risks that shake the Teno-Rasca area of special conservation, how much does mass tourism have to do with it?
A: In such small islands, with such fragile ecosystems and with such small spaces, any human impact is exponential. In those 'hotspots' of biodiversity with such a concentration of life in such a small space, any human impact affects. Human activity is the main threat to these islands.
Q: Can we move towards sustainable tourism in areas that have had a similar model for three or four decades?
A: I am convinced that yes. 30 or 40 years, although they may seem like a lot, is nothing on the scale of the human being or the planet... They are seconds or nanoseconds. We have to transform the model. The tourism that reigns in Tenerife and the Canary Islands is too cheap and does not take into account the environmental cost. That cost has to be charged to the tourist, it is the only way.
Q: At the level of biodiversity, what is at stake in the Teno-Rasca area?
A: Where the mega-port was going to be is the heart of the area of special conservation and the second whale sanctuary in Europe. It is one of those 'hotspots'. It is full of green and loggerhead turtles, tropical pilot whales, fin whales, elasmobranchs, seagrass beds and thousands of species that, due to the depth of the area, we do not even know. It is absurd to destroy that.
Q: It is an area where stranded cetaceans also often appear...
A: Yes. Building a port here is like putting a giant mega-hotel in the Teide National Park. We have seen cases of pilot whales that have appeared with their tail fin cut off... very tragic. Many impacts are generated by the activity, by the construction stage and, in the future, by its dismantling, which is a concept that Spain still does not work on too much, but which is necessary.
Q: You talk a lot about it, that we have to start dismantling infrastructures. Can you elaborate on the concept?
A: Yes, there are many susceptible cases in Spain, such as the dams that were built in the 50s, with a useful life of 30 to 40 years... that is, we are already late. Also that 'boom' of construction in the 80s, the 90s... As for tourism, it is something more recent and they continue within their useful life, but they will have to be dismantled. We cannot pretend that nature will eat that.
Q: It is a concept that also requires a budgetary effort that I don't know if you perceive...
A: There has not been a real budgetary lever to execute those dismantlings until now. And a lot of money is needed. I repeat a lot the phrase that civil engineering has been at the service of society until now, but now it has to be at the service of the environment and that there is a paradigm shift.
Q: Are you a climate pessimist?
A: I try not to be, I think I am optimistic, but I have my ups and downs of thinking that the climate crisis is irreversible. In the last eight years my greatest effort with Innoceana has been to restore seagrass (seagrass beds in Tenerife or corals in Costa Rica) and it is almost impossible to restore. Hundreds of thousands of euros and depressing results. Meanwhile, you see that a construction destroys a lot and very quickly, which makes you think that everything is very difficult or almost impossible. But I think I am a climate optimist because I say 'almost' impossible.
