A European Union’s contradiction: the intensive agriculture it promoted is a clear threat to the sustainability of watercourses and aquatic ecosystems.

As the sun falls on Villananitos beach, an elderly couple silently observes the Spanish Mar Menor, one of the largest saltwater lagoons in Europe and a popular and often overcrowded tourist destination.

A year ago, in October, the couple watched in disbelief as thousands of sea creatures, fighting for their lives, flocked to the shore in search of oxygen. “I didn’t think there was so much fish here. It’s incredible what came out! Langoustines, seabream, sea bass, shrimp… very long eels came out, gasping for air because they couldn’t breathe,” says 73-year-old María del Carmen Villena, from Cuenca, who has been coming to her holiday home in the municipality of San Pedro del Pinatar for almost 20 years.