MADRID (AFP) — Greenpeace recently condemned the proposed construction of golf courses in southern Spain, declaring them to be an environmental menace to the water-starved region.

The organisation said of the proposed 71 golf courses to be built in Spain this year, 66 were to be built in southern Spain including 34 in the Murcia province, one of the driest regions in the country.

At a news conference in Madrid, Greenpeace representatives said that one golf course consumes as much water as a town with 100,000 residents.

They also pointed out the irony of constructing such facilities at a time the government is proposing to divert river waters from northern Spain to arid regions in the southeast to overcome water shortages.

Numerous demonstrations have been held across Spain against the controversial plan which environmentalists, including Greenpeace, say will vastly damage eco-systems.

The plan proposes the annual transfer of 1,050 cubic hectometres (3.675 million cubic feet) of water from the northern Ebro river, the longest in Spain, towards arid zones along the southeastern Mediterranean coast including the Murcia region.

“This is a sad reality of the government’s politics, the waste of a precious resource — that being water,” a Greenpeace spokesman said.

Greenpeace also established that some 44 proposed power plants will be constructed this year, along with 33 commercial ports and 31 marinas.

The organisation has recommended the national introduction of an “eco-tax”, which has already been implemented by the regional government in Balearic Islands despite opposition from the federal government and the tourism industry.

The tax, which costs each person less than an euro a day, is used to finance sustainable development and introduce environmental measures.