ElVanguardia

Saratoga, California Monday, March 18, 2013 2 pages

five cents
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pollution
Pollution is an issue that many
states like Spain are facing present day.
Pollution is caused by burning fossil fuels,
emissions from industries, even household
and farming chemicals. In Madrid, Spain
three quarters of the air pollution come
1
from motor vehicles.
Pollution in Spain is
not only causing the number of hospital
inhabitants to rise, but it is assuring the

citizens to seek change. Julio Diaz, a

researcher at the Carlos III Health
Institute in Madrid, says that even small
increases in pollution can cause the

number of people admitted to

hospitals with circulatory and respiratory
illnesses to rise.
An amount of 16.8 million, or 36%,
of Spaniards are being exposed to
unhealthy air pollution levels above EU
2
safety limits.
According to the data taken
from the 705 measuring stations; nitrogen
dioxide, sulphur dioxide, tropospheric
ozone and particulate matter are the most
widespread pollutants found in the air
2
circulating in Spain.
A recent study by
another research group at the Carlos III
Health Institute found that people living
within five kilometers of incinerators and
junkyards - which emit arsenic and
chromium, among other things - have an
around six-percent higher chance of dying
due to certain cancers than people who
live further away. Globally, air pollution
shortens lives by an average of 8.6
months, according to the World Health
Organization - with people primarily
affected by cardiovascular and respiratory
diseases and lung cancer.

What is Spain doing to decrease

pollution? Many cities in Europe chose to
establish different anti-pollution policies
such as, low-emission zones, which causes
citizens to pay a fine in order to enter the
city center and are even prohibiting
specific vehicles in specially marked
zones. With this some have even been
promoting bicycle use.
Spain is also creating ways to
decrease pollution like other countries in
Europe. If air pollution levels are too high,
automatic traffic restrictions will be
directed by Spanish authorities. Spain is
also taking high risks by
cutting vehicles
by 50 per cent as odd- or even
number
licence plates are banned. But Arturo, a
habitual driver, believed that a ban would
be difficult to enforce. One thing is
introducing the law; making it work is
3
quite another.

Citations:

The Independence of
Basque
Everyone wants independence and
freedom, but should everyone have those rights?
The Basque country is located in between
Spanish
French
states,

purpose is to create an independent

Basque state that would integrate the Pays
Basque in

1.Tremlett, Giles. "Basque Separatist Eta

Historic Weapons." The Guardian. N.p., n.d. Web. 19
Mar.2015.<
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/
feb/20/basque-separatist-eta-historic-weapons-maria
no-rajoy
>.

France with the Basque territories in

Spain. During the first ten years of the ETA,
2."ETA." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation,
n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
it limited its activity to propaganda.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETA
>.
However, violence such as bombs, sabotage, <
and robbery, slowly became its preferred
method for achieving political goals.
3."Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) (Spain, Separatists,
Euskadi Ta Askatasuna)." Council on Foreign Relations. Council on

The first death resulting from ETAs

Foreign Relations, 17 Nov. 2008. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
actions occurred in 1968 and since then, the
http://www.cfr.org/separatist-terrorism/basque-fatherland-liberty
violence and deaths have continued, aimed
at
-eta-spain-separatists-euskadi-ta-askatasuna/p9271
>.
targets such as politicians and journalists.
The majority of Basque society actively
1. Laursen, Lucas. "Madrid Air Pollution Reaches
rejects the violence of ETA, while a minority
Alarming Levels." DW. N.p., 12 Apr. 2013. Web. 12
sympathizes with it, justifying it as an
Mar. 2015.
3
exercise of self-defense.
Throughout its
<http%3A%2F%2F
www.dw.de%2Fmadrid-air-poll
ution-reaches-alarming-levels%2Fa-16739363
history ETA has caused around a thousand
fighting for their independence since the 19th
2. Dunham, Alex. "16.8 Million Spaniards Breathe
deaths. It has called two major ceasefires:
1
Polluted Air." The Local. N.p., 09 Oct. 2014. Web.
century.
Their fight has won the title as the Basque one in 1989 during the failed negotiations in
12 Mar. 2015.
conflict, or the Spain-ETA Conflict. Independence is
Algiers with the Socialist government of
<
http://www.thelocal.es/20141009/168-million-sp
something that is fought for, but the Basque country
Spain and in 1998, leading to 14 months of
aniard-breathe-polluted-air-who
>.
has not been fighting fair. I believe that the Basque
3
3. "Madrid Brings in Tough Anti-pollution
non-violence.
In recent years the violence of
country should not be granted the self-sovereignty
Regulations." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media
they have
they have been fighting illegitimate since ETA has particularly struck hard at
Group, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.
non-nationalists, leading to a climate of
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/eur
extreme political tension. I believe that the
ope/spain/11444948/Madrid-brings-in-tough-antiIn July 31, 1959 the
Euskadi Ta
BAsque Country should not be granted the
pollution-regulations.html>.
Askatasuna, or the ETA, meaning Basque self-sovereignty that they have been fighting
2
Homeland and Freedom started.
ETA was for because of their constant acts of

formed as a protest against a passive

illegitimate violence since 1959.
attitude of the moderate nationalists and
against the Franco dictatorship. Its main