Walter Finch
A FIRE ripped through part of the Acerinox stainless steel plant across the bay from Gibraltar early on Thursday morning.
The blaze began at around 5.30am in a pickling line in the rolling department of the sprawling Los Barrios complex, visible from the Rock and much of the Bay of Gibraltar.
Fire crews with seven firefighters and six vehicles from the Cadiz Fire Consortium stations in Los Barrios and Algeciras rushed to the scene, finding the flames had already taken hold.
They worked alongside the factory’s in-house emergency team to bring the incident under control.
One worker was treated on site for smoke inhalation but discharged soon after.
The fire destroyed part of the production line and damaged the roof, though Acerinox later clarified that the affected section was only a part of the overall line.
An investigation is now underway into the cause of the blaze.
The incident comes just months after locals complained of a sinister orange gas cloud belched out over the bay by the same plant, part of what insiders described to the Olive Press as a ‘suspiciously frequent’ pattern of toxic discharges.
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Environmental groups and former employees have long alleged that the plant’s filtration systems are outdated or malfunctioning, with fumes containing nitric acid fluoride and other harmful substances routinely escaping into the air.
Residents in nearby towns such as Palmones and Guadarranque, as well as campaigners in Gibraltar, have blamed the complex for what they say are elevated levels of cancer, asthma and bronchitis across the Campo.
“The Campo de Gibraltar has the highest levels of cancer, bronchitis and asthma in all of Spain – we are top of the cancer list,” local resident Paco Cervantes, 66, told this newspaper in March, accusing the authorities of refusing to commission serious studies for fear of what they might find.
Built in 1970 as the world’s first integrated stainless steel factory, Acerinox remains one of the region’s largest employers, directly providing jobs for thousands and indirectly sustaining tens of thousands more. But critics argue that employment has come at an environmental cost.
The plant has previously been cited for a string of serious safety and pollution lapses, including a radioactive leak in 2008.
Campaigners also accuse the company of running an open-air dump of slag and metal particulates, with pollution carried across the bay depending on the wind direction.
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Despite repeated denuncias, environmental authorities in Cadiz and the Junta have largely dismissed complaints.
Campaigners claim air quality monitors are routinely switched off at night, when the bulk of discharges occur.
As one resident in Palmones put it: “Pollution has always been a problem, for as long as I can remember, but many are unwilling to say it as most of the town works in the plant. There’s dust and particles in the air – I find it on my windowsills.”
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