PAN condemns Portimão Sardine Festival as a “Plastic Nightmare”

The People-Animals-Nature Party (PAN) has today shared their view on the environmental aspect of the recent Sardine Festival in Portimão, criticizing the reduced public attention to issues relating to the excessive consumption of single use plastics.

The Party echoed the statements of Portimão’s Mayor, Isilda Gomes, to RTP after the recent AfroNation Festival, when the mayor said that “we must be aware that the environment must be preserved”. Both parties clearly expressed in reality these festivals are “Plastic Festivals”.

For PAN, “the use of plastic is very visible at what is probably the best known event of Portimão”.

PAN also exemplified the dilemma by referring to the feast tables, where “one can also see numerous dishes, cutlery, bowls, casings and plastic cups around the tables in the area, materials that we know are disposable and not biodegradable. They would be for the consumption and single use of the 100,000 people who visited the festival this year.”

Quoting statements made by Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, on June 5, 2018, the environmental party appealed to the union “of the world to overcome plastic pollution” and warned that “the microplastic particles present in the ocean outnumber the stars of our galaxy.” The PAN Algarve District Political Commission launched a challenge to the public to “turn words into deeds and opt for more responsible use of single-use plastics, preferably eliminating their use ”.

In a press release, PAN asked the mayor of Portimão “is it time to replace non-biodegradable single use materials with other more environmentally friendly ones?” Noting that “if the plastics are left over then they could accumulate in the river and do even more harm to the local landscape.

“The right conditions must be created for the reuse and recycling of all utensils used in future events, so that Portimão can commit itself to truly being a cleaner and more environmentally friendly city,” the People-Animals-Nature Party concluded.