On November 21, MITECO will begin the first project of the MAPMM (Mechanical Project for the Recovery of the Mining Sierra of Cartagena and La Unión).

The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), through the General Directorate of Biodiversity, Forests, and Desertification (DGBBD), will launch on November 21 one of the flagship projects of the Framework of Priority Actions to Recover the Mar Menor (MAPMM), the environmental restoration of the Sierra Minera de Cartagena and La Unión.

Specifically, the DGBBD will begin the restoration of abandoned hazardous mining sites and the restoration of areas affected by mining in the Mar Menor area of influence, as planned in the MAPMM (Mediterranean Mines Management Plan). The total investment for this plan is €110.8 million, earmarked for the recovery of approximately 700 hectares in the Sierra Minera.

Specifically, the intervention will begin in Complex 1 in El Llano del Beal (Cartagena).

In addition to this investment by MITECO in the restoration of the Sierra Minera, this ministry has also granted €4 million in aid to the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia for mine safety and closure works at the "El Lirio" mining waste facility, which represents 70% of the total budget.

The actions included in the MAPMM were declared of general interest by the Spanish Government in November 2021 to address matters that fall under the jurisdiction of another administration. Some of them have been included for funding through the European Union's Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

In the Cartagena and La Unión mining basins, on the Mar Menor side, there are nearly 60 abandoned facilities and contaminated soils that pose a significant risk to the surrounding population and cause heavy metals to leach into the lagoon.

The objective of the MAPMM is to act at the source, preventing soil and aquifer contamination, as well as preventing surface runoff of hazardous mining waste from reaching the lagoon and damaging its condition by sealing wells and ponds and restoring soils through phytoremediation.

The restoration of these mining sites, together with hydrological and forestry restoration, will involve restoring the vegetation cover around the headwaters of the mining ravines by planting plant species that minimize erosion and the influx of solids through the channels, while also enabling the development of forested areas as natural habitats in the medium term.