Thousands of people rallied at noon in Santiago de Compostela against Altri's macro pulp plant in Palas de Rei, pending Xunta authorization, to defend Galicia's future. Organized by platforms like Ulloa Viva and En Defensa da Ría de Arousa, the protest repeats last year's massive rejection with support from opposition parties and environmentalists. At the end, they demanded the Xunta deny the environmental permit.
The demonstration started at 12:00 from Santiago de Compostela's Alameda and marched through the old town's streets to Praza do Obradoiro, ending an hour and a half later with a manifesto reading. Organizers estimated 80,000 participants in this mobilization under the slogans 'Dende a Ulloa ata o mar, polas que somos e as que virán' and 'Altri no, fóra xa'. The atmosphere was festive, featuring dozens of umbrellas decorated with oak and chestnut leaves to symbolize threatened native forests.
Marta Gontá, spokesperson for Ulloa Viva, stated at the start: 'We are here to defend that the resources we have are for our daughters and sons and not for companies that only bring us poverty and steal our resources'. Held a year after the previous one, the protest criticizes the project's impact on natural resources, particularly the daily consumption of 47 million liters of water from the Ulla River for 75 years, which flows into the Ría de Arousa.
Supported by BNG, PSdeG, unions, and Greenpeace, the rally included political speeches. BNG leader Ana Pontón urged Xunta president Alfonso Rueda to heed the 'social clamor' and stop promoting the project, which she calls 'industrial Francoism' that mortgages Galicia's future. PSdeG's Lara Méndez demanded the publication of the memorandum signed with Altri and noted the central government rejected it three times. Greenpeace's Manoel Santos called on Altri to publicly renounce the project.
The manifesto rejected treating Galicia as 'a colony' and advocated for progress respecting the landscape, also opposing the Touro mine reactivation. In response, Olga Arias, Altri's HR director in Spain, defended the GAMA project as 'serious, rigorous, sustainable, and innovative', highlighting the recent STEP seal from the European Commission for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting biodegradable fibers from Galician forests.
