Aznalcóllar mine spill (Spain)
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
A 1998 accident at the Aznalcóllar / Los Frailes mine in Spain, operated by Boliden Apirsa, produced claims of about 40 billion pesetas. In 2023 a Seville court rejected the Andalusian government's €89.9 million claim against Boliden; in 2025 the government approved the last permit to reopen the mine.
Another account in the record gives €89.8 million; El Debate rounds to about €90 million.
Status As of 30 May 2025 (latest dated item): the Junta de Andalucía approved the last permit to reopen the mine; the Junta's €89.9 million claim against Boliden was rejected in July 2023.
What happened
The Aznalcóllar / Los Frailes mine, operated by Boliden Apirsa, was the site of an accident on 25 April 1998. El Debate later called it the Aznalcóllar disaster.
A MAPFRE note from the time said claims approached about 40 billion pesetas, against insured sums far lower. Boliden sued its contractors and their insurer, Banco Vitalicio, which was liable only up to the limit of each policy. Boliden lost at every level, and the Supreme Court confirmed the outcome in 2012.
On 28 July 2023 a Seville court rejected a claim of about €89.9 million by the Junta de Andalucía against Boliden. El Debate reported that the court relieved Boliden of paying about €90 million and that the costs stayed with Andalucía. It was also reported that the claim was dismissed first on procedural grounds and then on the merits.
On 30 May 2025 Infobae, citing EFE, reported that the Junta de Andalucía had given the go-ahead to the last permit to reopen the mine, with about 85,520 million litres to be discharged into the Guadalquivir estuary over 18.5 years. On 7 February 2025 Última Hora reported that the Junta had ordered documentation on the unified environmental authorisation (AAU) for the mine to be sent to the TSJA.
- 1998Accident at the Aznalcóllar / Los Frailes mine (Boliden Apirsa), 25 April
- 2012Spanish Supreme Court confirms the loss of Boliden's suits against its contractors and their insurer
- 2023Seville court rejects the Junta de Andalucía's claim of about €89.9 million against Boliden (28 July)
- 2025Última Hora (7 Feb): Junta orders documentation on the AAU sent to the TSJA; Infobae/EFE (30 May): Junta approves the last permit to reopen the mine
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Sued its contractors and their insurer Banco Vitalicio and lost at every level; the Supreme Court confirmed in 2012.
Rejected the Junta's claim on 28 July 2023; costs stayed with Andalucía.
El DebateHow it looked
Shown
- The Junta's approval of 'the last permit' to reopen the mine, with about 85,520 million litres to be discharged into the Guadalquivir estuary over 18.5 years.Junta de Andalucía, as reported by Infobae (EFE) · Infobae (EFE)
Recorded
- Accident at the Aznalcóllar / Los Frailes mine (Boliden Apirsa) on 25 April 1998.
- Claims approached about 40 billion pesetas, against insured sums far lower (MAPFRE note from the time).
- Boliden sued its contractors and their insurer Banco Vitalicio, liable only 'up to the limit of each policy'; Boliden lost at every level and the Supreme Court confirmed in 2012.
- A Seville court rejected the Junta de Andalucía's claim of about €89.9 million against Boliden on 28 July 2023; the costs stayed with Andalucía.
- The Junta gave the go-ahead to the last permit to reopen the mine on 30 May 2025; about 85,520 million litres are to be discharged into the Guadalquivir estuary over 18.5 years.
- The Junta ordered documentation on the unified environmental authorisation (AAU) for the mine to be sent to the TSJA (reported 7 February 2025).
- The Archbishop of Seville held a thanksgiving mass for the mine's reopening.
- Boliden is listed among the 26 member companies of ICMM.
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- junta-de-andalucia (2025-05-30): Gave the go-ahead to the last permit to reopen the mine. · Infobae (EFE)
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
- 2012Defendant wonBoliden v contractors and their insurer (Banco Vitalicio)Spanish courts, confirmed by the Tribunal Supremo · Civil · Boliden → Contractors and their insurer Banco Vitalicio
Boliden sued its contractors and their insurer, which was liable only up to the limit of each policy. Boliden lost at every level; the Supreme Court confirmed the outcome in 2012.
- 2023-07-28Dismissed€89.9m Claim, EUR millionsJunta de Andalucía v Boliden (damages claim)Seville court · Civil · Junta de Andalucía → Boliden
A Seville court rejected the claim on 28 July 2023; El Debate reported that costs stayed with Andalucía. It was also reported that the claim was dismissed first on procedural grounds and then on the merits. El Debate
Insurers
- 2012In litigationBanco Vitalicio → Boliden's contractors
Boliden sued the contractors and their insurer; the insurer was liable only 'up to the limit of each policy'. Boliden lost at every level and the Supreme Court confirmed in 2012.
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Accounts
- Disputed Who bears the cost of the 1998 accident?
Record
- Disputed Conflicting figures for the Junta's claim: €89.9 million in one account and €89.8 million in another.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: that the Andalusian government granted the unified environmental authorisation (AAU) for reopening on 11 July 2024 to a Grupo México-Minorbis partnership, and that a court refused in September 2024 to suspend it.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: that the European Commission communication COM(2000) 664 names Baia Mare and Aznalcóllar as its triggers (based on excerpts only; the full text could not be checked).
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: that the mine lies near Doñana.
Did the harm stop?
The record contains no measure of ecological recovery. It records that in 2025 the Junta approved the last permit to reopen the mine, with a planned discharge into the Guadalquivir estuary.
Who paid?
The Seville court's 2023 ruling left the Junta de Andalucía's claim of about €89.9 million unpaid by Boliden, and the costs stayed with Andalucía (El Debate). Boliden's own suits against its contractors and their insurer also failed.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Juzgado de Sevilla exime a Boliden de pagar 90 millones por el desastre de AznalcóllarEl Debate · 2023-07-28
- Junta ordena remitir al TSJA documentación requerida sobre AAU mina Aznalcóllar (Sevilla)Última Hora · 2025-02-07
Standard-setters and registries
- ICMM membersICMM · n.d.
Connected cases
- Andalusia approves last permit to reopen Aznalcóllar mine near Doñana Spain · 2025 Related matter
- Junta de Andalucía (Government) — here: Regional government; claimant against Boliden; granted reopening permits; there: Regional government that approved the last permit
- 20,000 tonnes of arsenic-bearing sludge sent to Arica were left exposed Chile · 2019
- Boliden (Company) — here: Mine operator (Boliden Apirsa); there: won the case, according to the sources reviewed
- Samarco Fundão dam collapse (Mariana): the settlement and the court cases Brazil · 2015–2026
- Mapfre (Insurer) — here: Author of a note on claims versus insured sums; there: Member of the underwriting pool
- Vale Brumadinho dam collapse Brazil · 2019–2027
- Mapfre (Insurer) — here: Author of a note on claims versus insured sums; there: Property insurer (press reports)