The 'Urquiola' oil spill-report of a socio-economic study of effects. La Coruna, April - May 1977.

In connection with the foundering of the oil tanker 'Urquiola' on May 12, 1976, off La Coruna harbor in Galicia, Spain, an investigation was carried out during the period April 12 to May 14, 1977, in order to study economic, social, and administrative aspects of the oil spill. Three economic sectors were chosen for study, tourism, fishing and shellfishing. An evaluation of the findings has shown that short-term economic effects were apparent in varying degreee in all three sectors. However, the shellfish-gathering sector was seen to have incurred the most pervasive and long lasting effects. The susceptibility of this sector was to a great extent a products of an interplay of special social, economic, and aministrative conditions which permitted an insight into the interrelatedness of socioeconomic factors both with respect to the effects produced, and the degree of sucess of the corrective measures. A study of the physical, biological and chemical aspects of the oil spill is published in a seprate report (Landner, IVL, 1977)