The onset of new remains de peces dead on the coast of Telde This has once again set off alarm bells in the Gran Canaria municipality and reopened the clash between administrations and the concessionary company of the sea cagesWhat seemed like an episode headed for its definitive end has turned into a prolonged crisis, with Beaches closed, doubts about the origin of the spill and strong pressure from residents.
Although the Canary Islands Civil Protection Territorial Emergency Plan (PLATECA) had lowered the alert level to pre-alert, considering that no significant remains were found in the fish farms, the latest aerial inspections ordered by the Telde City Council have documented dead fish on the coastline and inside the sea cages , apparently recently deceased. This situation has heightened political tensions and reignited the debate about the environmental safety of aquaculture in the area.
Visual inspections and doubts about an abnormal mortality
The Canary Islands Government , through the Ministry of Territorial Policy, Cohesion, and Water, has confirmed that a visual inspection of the fish cages off the coast of Telde will be carried out in the coming days. Specialized technicians from the Directorate General of Fisheries , experts from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) , and representatives from the Telde City Council will participate in the inspection.
The stated objective of this visit is to determine whether the mortality observed in the cages exceeds the levels considered normal by the aquaculture company, which maintains that around 5% losses fall within normal parameters for sea bass farming . Regional authorities want to verify on-site whether this figure reflects reality or if, on the contrary, there is an abnormal mortality rate that could represent an additional source of pollution for the Telde coastline.
Meanwhile, the Emergency Services Department emphasizes that the presence of some dead specimens on the coast does not necessarily imply a new pollution incident , but could be debris carried by currents from the initial spill. This interpretation, however, has not entirely convinced the City Council , which insists that the problem is not completely under control.
The orange-colored patches detected on the sea surface have also been analyzed. Regional government sources indicate that they are likely traces of sea bass fat adhering to the cage structures following the mass die-off, and that the tides have resurfaced these residues, without implying a recent spill.
New dead fish and closed beaches: the City Council's version
The Telde City Council maintains a much more critical stance. Through several statements, the Council has asserted that aerial inspections by the municipal drone unit UNIDRON , which reports to the Local Police, have detected dead fish floating in the sea, especially near Salinetas, and lifeless specimens inside cages anchored off the coast.
According to municipal sources, the images captured show fish that appear to have recently died, without signs of advanced decomposition , which, in the opinion of the local government, indicates that the mortality is ongoing . The City Council notes that these aerial surveillance operations have been carried out since the beginning of the crisis due to the lack of direct and continuous information from other administrations with jurisdiction in the maritime and environmental sectors.
Mayor, Juan Antonio Peña, has been particularly forceful: he maintains that within the PLATECA officially announced that there were no remains left. de peces in the fish farm modules and that this information served to justify the shift from alert to pre-alert status. In light of the new images obtained by UNIDRON, Peña believes that That version does not match the reality observed at sea and demands an immediate correction.
The mayor has requested an urgent meeting with the Canary Islands and national government officials involved in managing the emergency , in order to clarify why it was claimed that no remains were left when just a day later more dead fish appeared in the area. In his opinion, the public “ deserves clarity and no more contradictions ,” and Telde “cannot continue to face this crisis alone.”
While doubts persist about the evolution of the outbreak, the City Council is keeping the beaches of Salinetas, Melenara, Aguadulce, Tufia, and Ojos de Garza closed , strictly following Public Health guidelines. The Council insists that it will not reopen any bathing area without clear, favorable reports guaranteeing the health and safety of residents and visitors.
Clash with Aquanaria and cross-complaints
Alongside the exchange of technical data, the conflict has also escalated into legal and political action. The aquaculture company Aquanaria , owner of the fish farms located off the coast of Telde , has announced it will file a complaint regarding the presence of the Local Police drone over its facilities , a device ordered by the mayor to document the actual condition of the cages.
The company believes that the flight constitutes an unauthorized entry into a public maritime-terrestrial domain that exceeds municipal authority and, furthermore, jeopardizes the safety of workers by operating over a potentially windy sea area without prior notification or permission. The company states that it has submitted its own photographs of the facilities to the Directorate General of Fisheries and the SEPRONA (Nature Protection Service of the Civil Guard) to demonstrate that, according to them, the photographs released by the City Council do not reflect the current state of the farm.
The City Council, for its part, maintains that the drone unit has a chronological audiovisual archive of the entire episode which, in the opinion of the local government, contradicts Aquanaria's statements regarding the absence of organic remains in the cages. It also accuses the company of having intensified withdrawal efforts de peces deaths and cleanup in the area just after the latest images were made public, interpreting these actions as an indirect confirmation of the municipal findings.
Tensions have escalated following Aquanaria's decision to deny the mayor and the city council's technical team access to a planned inspection visit with the Regional Ministry of Fisheries. Ultimately, the tour of the facilities will be limited to technical personnel from the Canary Islands Government and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC ), a move the Telde City Council describes as "obstruction of the investigation." This has led them to request the intervention of the Civil Guard's GEAS (Special Underwater Activities Group) to conduct an independent review of the condition of the cages and the seabed.
In this context, Aquanaria has also reported to the Civil Guard the dissemination of aerial images supposedly taken by drone by the City Council , alleging that they did not have authorization and that they could violate current regulations on safety in the workplace and the use of drones in sensitive areas.
The origin of the spill: outfall 222 or failure in aquaculture activity
The cause of the mass die-off of sea bass in the Melenara cages remains the main point of contention between the company and the City Council, while the formal investigation continues. Aquanaria maintains that the incident was triggered by a toxic spill unrelated to its operations , initially detected by a fisherman who reported a strange stain in the sea due to its color, smell, and unusual size.
According to the company, reports from the University Institute of Animal Health (IUSA), SERTOX, Ictiovet, and its environmental consultancy TAXON rule out the aquaculture operation itself as the cause and point to reduced sulfur-rich compounds originating from the area of the municipally owned submarine outfall No. 222. Satellite images from the European Copernicus system , again according to the company, show a whitish stain of more than 500 hectares in Melenara Bay , consistent with an external spill.
The company claims to have cooperated fully with SEPRONA (the Spanish Civil Guard's Nature Protection Service), the Public Prosecutor's Office, and other relevant authorities from the outset , providing expert reports, underwater photographic records, and analytical data on the affected water and fish. Furthermore, it accuses the area's sanitation system of having "very serious irregularities," citing an environmental inspection carried out in mid-October that allegedly detected structural damage, design flaws, and possible unauthorized industrial discharges linked to the outfall pipe.
The City Council, however, has repeatedly defended the hypothesis that the problem may be related to the operation of the fish cages themselves . The Council has released the results of municipal analyses which, according to their interpretation, rule out outfall 222 as the primary source of the fish kill . This interpretation is flatly rejected by Aquanaria, which maintains that the economic and reputational losses suffered make it the "main victim" of the incident, and in no way responsible.
In economic terms, the company estimates the impact at around €30 million and nearly 2.500 tons of lost fish , and confirms that it has not resumed fishing at the affected facility since the spill was detected . According to its statements, operations will not restart until all relevant authorities confirm that the area is safe again.
Alerts, beach closures and social pressure on the Telde coastline
The episode de peces The deaths have not only remained in the technical and political spheres; they have also had a direct impact on citizens and the local economy. prolonged closure of Telde beaches —Salinetas, Melenara, Aguadulce, Tufia and Ojos de Garza— has left Residents, bathers and hotel owners in a very delicate situationwith businesses claiming to be "at a bare minimum" after weeks without normal activity.
Public health reports have been key in keeping the bathing area closed. Analyses have confirmed the presence of organic matter and fecal matter in the water , justifying the continued restrictions while more specialized studies are completed to clarify the extent of the contamination and its possible connection to the detected spill.
The regional government explains that the deactivation of the main source of pollution and the decrease in the number de peces observed deaths These were key factors in lowering the alert level to pre-alert. Furthermore, aerial surveillance conducted in the preceding days did not detect any significant new signs of active spills, which reinforced this technical decision. However, The appearance of new dead specimens in recent days has generated an atmosphere of uncertainty. which hinders the return to normality.
Neighborhood groups and associations like the Platform for a Clean Coastline have called for demonstrations, including human chains to protest against fish cages , to denounce both the mass die-off and the perceived lack of transparency from various government bodies . They demand a definitive investigation into the source of the spill, the complete removal of all organic waste, and a guarantee of a coastal management model that is more respectful of the marine environment.
In this tense atmosphere, the company points out that the removal of the cages from the area was already planned before the incident , as part of its business strategy. Even so, it warns that, even if they leave Melenara Bay, the problem with the outfall pipe will persist if the alleged irregularities detected in the treatment and discharge system are not corrected .
Drone surveillance, coastal cleanup, and next steps
While statements and reports multiply, follow-up work continues on the ground. The unit UNIDRON of the Telde Local Police will continue to perform surveillance flights in the coming days, in order to document the evolution of the presence de peces dead bodies, surface stains and any other relevant evidence in the environment of the cages and the affected beaches.
The City Council insists that this independent monitoring is necessary given what it considers insufficient communication from the authorities with direct responsibility for the marine environment . At the same time, the Council has demanded the immediate activation of a reinforced coastal cleanup operation to more quickly remove the organic debris that continues to wash ashore.
The local government denounces the fact that the accumulation of marine debris is not being removed with the diligence the situation demands and warns that a slow response could entail health, environmental, and public image risks for Telde and the island of Gran Canaria as a whole. Therefore, it demands a more decisive and coordinated action between administrations to accelerate the visual and biological decontamination of the area.
Meanwhile, Public Health services continue to take samples and conduct regular analyses at the closed beaches. The results of these tests will be crucial in deciding whether to maintain the restrictions or begin a partial or full reopening. Health authorities reiterate that their role is limited to validating objective water quality parameters, while other technical variables regarding the source of the spill depend on specialized agencies and the ongoing judicial investigation.
Meanwhile, the planned inspections of the sea cages by fisheries technicians and university specialists are expected to provide key information to determine whether the mortality that continues to be observed falls within the normal margins of aquaculture activity or whether, on the contrary, an anomalous episode is being prolonged that could require new containment measures or even more significant changes in the exploitation of the marine space.
With beaches still closed, the hospitality sector reeling, and institutions embroiled in a bitter exchange of recriminations , the crisis of the dead fish in Telde remains unresolved and without a fully agreed-upon explanation. The outcome of the investigations, the pending technical reports, and future decisions regarding the outfall pipe and the fish cages will determine the course of a conflict that has highlighted the delicate balance between economic development, waste management, and marine environmental protection along the coast of Gran Canaria.
