The popular Spanish city that has won a NASA 'prize' but for all the wrong reasons
According to NASA, the most easily discernible man-made object from Earth's orbit is the vast expanse of greenhouses in Spain's Almeria coast.
Stretching between the towns of El Ejido and La Mojonera in Spain lies 142 square miles of white plastic, so bright that it stands out against the Earth’s surface and can be seen from the International Space Station (ISS).
According to NASA, the vast expanse of plastic greenhouses in Spain's Almerian coast is the most easily discernible man-made object from Earth’s orbit. Quite literally “ a sea”, the region is home to thousands and thousands of greenhouses.
By some estimates, Almeria’s greenhouses now produce between 2.5 and 3.5 million tons of fruit and vegetables per year.
This is enough to make them a major source of off-season tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and melons for households across Europe.
However, activists have long criticised the region for the enormous quantities of plastic that have been used, which seeps into the surrounding environment as it degrades.
“What is most visible is the field of greenhouses in southern Almería, that’s what you can see from all over the world,” said former Spanish astronaut Pedro Duque, who was onboard the ISS in 2003.
“The greenhouses of El Ejido are the only human construction that can be seen from space,” he confirmed to Spanish TV show Desafía tu mente.
He also debunked the myth that the Great Wall of China is the only human-made structure visible from space, arguing it is “just a wall, not that high, and made with the same materials as the earth that surrounds it”.
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Despite being one of the Wonders of the World, at about 13,173 miles long and with its tallest towers reaching just 800 metres, the wall is just too narrow to be seen from space.
He dismissed other astronauts who claimed, “they know where it is and take photos there, but they don’t”.
A few years ago, NASA even confirmed that the greenhouses “cover an area so large that they have probably even caused a localised cooling effect due to the fact that the white roofs reflect a substantial amount of sunlight”.
The region can also be seen in photos taken by NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites.
While other large human-made structures can also be seen from space, such as the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai and the Bingham Canyon mine in Utah, none are as distinctive or extensive as El Ejido’s greenhouses.
