Los Alcázares Council has taken the first formal step to prevent the construction of a medical waste incinerator planned around two kilometres from the Mar Menor. The local authority is acting against the clock to create what it describes as an administrative barrier to the project.

On Thursday, councillors agreed to begin the process of suspending for one year the granting of licences for industries considered potentially polluting. The suspension would apply to activities such as waste incinerators and biogas plants.

The move is designed to block the proposed hospital waste incinerator, which has already received environmental authorisation from the Regional Government. That approval has been challenged in court by the town hall, which argues the project poses a risk to the surrounding area.

The Mar Menor and its surroundings have been the focus of ongoing environmental concern in recent years, with local authorities under pressure to limit further industrial impact near the lagoon.