Resignations shake newly formed Mar Menor oversight committee

The resignations come just months after the committee helped secure legal protection for the Mar Menor

The committee created to protect the Mar Menor has taken a major blow, with two senior figures stepping down just months after it officially began operating.

Teresa Vicente Giménez and Alfonso Manzano Ruiz have resigned as president and secretary of the Committee of Representatives of the ‘Comité de Representantes de la Tutoría del Mar Menor’, the Mar Menor’s legal guardianship body. Their departure has sparked political debate and prompted responses from regional and national authorities, alongside public messages of recognition from local leaders.

What is the Committee of Representatives?

In 2022, a groundbreaking community-led initiative resulted in the Mar Menor being recognised as a legal entity. The law recognises the lagoon as a legal subject with rights of its own, rather than simply a natural space managed by public authorities. The Committee of Representatives was set up to help put this into practice.

The Committee of Representatives plays a central role in this system, bringing together members of civil society and representatives from the regional and national administrations to make decisions and defend the Mar Menor.

The governance bodies were officially set up on May 29 2025, during a notarial ceremony at the University of Murcia’s Faculty of Law.

Why did they resign?

In their resignation, Vicente and Manzano argue that the Committee has become effectively stuck. They say that proposals intended to allow the guardianship system to work in a practical and decisive way were repeatedly delayed or blocked. Some reports note that their positions were due to rotate soon, and a few observers have suggested the timing of their resignation may have been intended to draw attention to these issues.

A key issue is how decisions are approved. Under the current rules, agreements require reinforced majorities, meaning the support of both public administrations as well as citizen representatives. According to the former president and secretary, this has created a situation in which proposals can be stopped, limiting the Committee’s ability to act in defence of the Mar Menor’s rights.

They argue that this goes against the spirit of the law, which was designed to put the ecosystem itself at the centre of decision-making.

Both the regional government and the Ministry for Ecological Transition reject the idea that there has been any institutional blockage. They say cooperation within the Committee has been constructive, that all items on the most recent agenda were approved, and that the governance system is still at an early stage.

The administrations also point to ongoing investment and recovery measures for the Mar Menor, including long-term national funding programmes, and insist they remain fully committed to protecting the lagoon.

Recognition from Los Alcázares

Mario Ginés Pérez Cervera, mayor of Los Alcázares and president of the Mar Menor Monitoring Commission, has said he was saddened by Teresa Vicente’s resignation and praised her role in the project.

“Teresa Vicente is, without a doubt, the person who drove and sustained this initiative when it seemed almost impossible,” he said. “None of this would have been possible without her perseverance, courage and coherence.”

He also noted that her departure comes at a sensitive moment, “when the project is already up and running and when it is most important that this collective effort is truly useful to citizens and provides real protection for the Mar Menor.”

What happens next?

While changes take place within the guardianship system, everyone stresses that the legal framework protecting the Mar Menor is still in place. The situation shows just how hard it can be to turn a groundbreaking legal idea into day to day decision-making.

As Pérez Cervera put it, “The Mar Menor now needs calm, commitment and effectiveness. Less noise and more results.”

Communities around the Mar Menor, who have long supported its protection, hope these resignations don’t slow progress on protecting the much-loved Mar Menor.

The question now is: will these resignations help highlight the issues that need fixing, or will they only create more?

Image 1: Archive
Image 2: Los Alcazares Town Hall