Please do not authorise mining to extract rare earth elements which would prevent the sustainable development of our land. This is my request to the Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Development, Mr Francisco Martínez Arroyo and the Minister for Economy, Companies and Employment, Mrs Patricia Franco Jiménez, in the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha (JCCM)

Since 2013, 10 investigation licences for the extraction of rare earth elements have been issued, affecting 27,500 hectares in the province of Ciudad Real. The first operating project, applied for by the company Quantum Minería S.L. is currently going through the approval phase, and the rights extend to 1500 hectares of the Campo de Montiel area. The mining activity will last for 10 years, until the mineral has all been extracted, according to the company’s own estimations. There is no other mine of these characteristics anywhere else in Europe, which would make Campo de Montiel an experimental laboratory.

The area chosen has an abundance of natural values which coexist with quality agricultural production and livestock farming and a consolidated agricultural food industry with a future. It is home to four Regulatory Boards, covering products like Manchego cheese, the wines of Valdepeñas and La Mancha, and olive oil from Campo de Montiel. These production and transformation sectors have been shown to be compatible with a natural heritage containing examples of some of the most exceptional species of Mediterranean fauna, such as the Iberian lynx, the Iberian imperial eagle, Bonelli’s Eagle and the Eurasian black vulture. What’s more, part of the area has been declared RED NATURA 2000 because it is a Special Protection Area for birds. The cultural value of the local region and its landscapes are renowned all over the world, having been recreated in Don Quixote, and there are also archaeological sites dating from the Palaeolithic and subsequent eras.

All of these values are today under threat from a mining project which is incompatible with the biodiversity of this living landscape and its socio-economic model. Water is a scarce resource, highly-prized in the area. It has been calculated that the first operating project will require the use of between 310,000 and 500,000 m3/year from the Mari Sánchez-Cabezuela reservoir, which supplies water to some 60,000 people. It has also been predicted that there will be problems of water, soil and air contamination. Given this scenario, our question is: Who is providing information about the route being taken by this land? Are we going to jeopardise a sustainable socio-economic model just when we are moving towards a greener economy?

I am asking for your signature in support, to prevent this mining project going ahead in a living landscape which has successfully balanced its social and economic model with maintaining a diverse natural and cultural heritage.