Spain to Invest €25.7 Million to Strengthen Research and Protection of Its Marine Ecosystems

The Government has authorized an agreement between the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) to boost Spanish marine strategies. The agreement will have a total budget of €25.76 million.

Of this amount, MITECO will contribute €15.65 million during 2026 and 2027, while CSIC will provide another €9.62 million through its own resources and various research and data collection and analysis efforts.

The agreement will strengthen collaboration between the General Directorate of Coasts and the Sea and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) of CSIC, one of the main Spanish scientific bodies dedicated to the study of the marine environment.

The goal is to improve knowledge about the state of Spanish seas and marine ecosystems to protect them more effectively. To this end, monitoring and evaluation work will be carried out, and new scientific data on Spanish waters will be collected.

Criteria used to determine when a marine ecosystem is in good environmental condition will also be reviewed, and new objectives will be established to advance its conservation.

The agreement will also allow for the design and development of new monitoring programs and protection measures, as well as support for the management of maritime space in the different Spanish marine demarcations.

The information obtained will serve to improve the assessment of ecosystems and provide a scientific basis for public policies on protection and sustainability of the marine environment.

Photo: MITECO