Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Mining / tailings dam · Spain · 2025

Andalusia approves last permit to reopen Aznalcóllar mine near Doñana

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 3 insufficient · 2 not measured See the gaps

Andalusia's regional government approved the last permit to reopen the Aznalcóllar mine, the site of a 1998 disaster near Doñana. The permit allows about 85,520 million litres of discharge into the Guadalquivir estuary over 18.5 years.

What?
Andalusia's regional government approved the last permit to reopen the Aznalcóllar mine, near Doñana. Infobae (EFE)
Where?
Aznalcóllar, Seville province, Andalusia, Spain Infobae (EFE)
When?
Permit approval reported on 30 May 2025 Infobae (EFE)
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Through the final permit in a series, allowing discharge of about 85,520 million litres into the Guadalquivir estuary over 18.5 years. Infobae (EFE)
5 of 6 questions answered from the record · open: who

What happened

The record, in order.

Infobae, reporting for EFE on 30 May 2025, said the regional government (La Junta) had approved the last permit to reopen the Aznalcóllar mine in Seville province.

According to the same report, the permit covers the discharge of about 85,520 million litres into the Guadalquivir estuary over 18.5 years.

Última Hora reported on 7 February 2025 that the regional government had been ordered to send the Andalusian High Court the documentation requested on the mine's unified environmental authorisation.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the unified environmental authorisation (AAU) was granted on 11 July 2024 to a Grupo México and Minorbis partnership.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: a court refused in September 2024 to suspend the permit.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the Archbishop of Seville held a thanksgiving mass for the reopening.
    • None on record Who will operate the mine is not stated in the sources reviewed.
    • None on record The outcome of the Andalusian court's review of the permit is not stated in the sources reviewed.
    • Not measured Effects of the discharge on the estuary are not measured in the sources reviewed.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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