Carlos Spottorno

In 2002 an oil tanker, the PRESTIGE, wrecked a few miles away from the galician coast, in northern Spain. The portugese and spanish governments denied access into their harbors, so the ship was pushed 250 Km away. As a result of that decision, 70 tones of fuel reached the Iberian coast, from northern Portugal to the south of France, in what is, so far, the worst ecological disaster ever in western Europe. Thousands of volunteers reached the area to start the cleaning labour. Most of them payed their own transport, food and lodging. The government launched its own campaign a few days after the volunteers were already there. World Press Photo 2003.