Northern Spain, 19 October 2009.
On board a regional bus from Ondarroa to Bilbao. Stacks of short length wood appear on the roadside. Hmm. On to the motorway. The late model bus cruising at 100km/h. Aircon on.
What’s that foul smell?
Cabbage?
Looking at the seat row in front. They don’t look like the types. Getting worse. Can’t be from the few passengers. Smell persists for a few minutes. At 100km/h would that translate into a good few kilometres?
Conclusion: There must be a pulp mill somewhere. Conclusion reinforced by looking at the landscape of the region: lots of clearfelled patches of plantation. No burning though.
Hours later, returning on the same motorway. Alerted by the many clearfelled patches the camera comes out. Sure enough it catches something that looks like the picture of what is proposed on the Tamar.
Probably very much smaller though.
Smurfit Kappa Nervion it reads.
The wind direction has changed. No stink in the bus now.
Lucky bus.
