Spanish court confirms 1.5 bn euro Prestige spill compensation

Dozens of beaches across northwestern Spain were polluted after the Prestige tanker sank, leading the Spanish Supreme Court to rule, 16 years on, that more than 1.5 billion euros compensation must be paid, mainly to the Spanish state

Madrid (AFP) - The Supreme Court in Madrid on Thursday handed down a definitive ruling that the Spanish state be paid 1.6 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in damages over the 2002 Prestige oil spill, one of Europe’s worst environmental disasters.

The court followed an earlier ruling in the northwestern city of La Coruna which said the regional government of Galicia, off whose coast the Prestige tanker broke in two, be compensated 1.8 million euros.

Neighbouring France, which was also affected, was awarded 61 million euros.

The huge spill of more than 63,000 tonnes of oil severely polluted the coastline as far as France and Portugal.

The vast majority of the compensation will go to the Spanish state. The remainder will be split between the Galician authorities and local authorities, including in French areas. Firms, particularly in the fishing industry, which was badly hit, will also receive a small cut.

The court said the final ruling on civil liability “fixes compensation at above 1.5 billion euros” to be paid by the vessel’s insurance company and its skipper.

The ruling follows the terms of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund, which determines the limits of civil responsibility and ends a legal marathon after Spain’s worst ecological disaster.

The Bahamas-registered Prestige went down on November 19, 2002, off Galicia’s Atlantic coast six days after springing a leak in a storm.

More than 300,000 volunteers from across Europe descended on the region to help with the clean-up.