1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:04,400 I'm on a journey around the Mediterranean. 2 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:12,520 It's the sea that attracts around a third of world tourism. 3 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:19,280 The birthplace of civilisations... 4 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:20,760 Just look at that! 5 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:24,560 ..where extraordinary wealth... 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:26,920 This one's got a helicopter on it! 7 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:29,280 ..meets shocking poverty. 8 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:32,360 I take my flipping hat off to them, I really do. 9 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:34,680 Look at the scale of the destruction! 10 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:36,480 They are on the edge of the Med. 11 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:40,560 It's a sea of wild extremes. 12 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:42,680 Yes, yes, look! 13 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:50,320 This final, fourth leg of my journey takes me from Morocco, 14 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,760 up the coast of southern Spain and on to Corsica, 15 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:55,680 and ultimately, the French Riviera. 16 00:00:57,440 --> 00:00:59,840 On Europe's only desert coast... 17 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:02,720 Oh, my God! 18 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,760 ..I discover how cheap food and holidays 19 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:08,160 has transformed the landscape. 20 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:10,120 It's the Manhattan of Spain. 21 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:14,080 Plastic, plastic. 22 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:18,320 I think I've seen a blow, OK. 23 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,400 Whales, at the mouth of the Mediterranean! 24 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,480 I travel to an unspoiled paradise... 25 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:30,680 I mean, the whole environment here is just incredible. 26 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:35,000 ..before ending my Mediterranean journey on the opulent Cote d'Azur. 27 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,440 What's that smell? 28 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:38,960 Dirty, rotten money. 29 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:54,880 So, look, just over here.... 30 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,360 It's the Rock of Gibraltar. 31 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:01,840 I am heading towards a fortified port city. 32 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:05,760 A duty-free zone, that, well, it's effectively owned 33 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:07,920 by a country across the sea, 34 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:11,560 but claimed by the nation that surrounds it. 35 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,440 No, I'm not going to Gibraltar. 36 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:19,480 I'm going to Ceuta, a little bit of Spain on the coast of north Africa. 37 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:22,760 The Spanish can get a bit het up about what an outrage 38 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:24,560 it is that Gibraltar's British. 39 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:26,800 Yet, just 17 miles across the sea 40 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:28,680 in Africa is Spanish Ceuta, 41 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,840 a port city surrounded by Morocco. 42 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:35,920 This patch of land is heavily contested. 43 00:02:35,920 --> 00:02:39,200 Morocco desperately wants it. 44 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,480 The Spanish have campaigned for decades to reclaim Gibraltar - 45 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:46,160 perhaps a tad hypocritical, given they still own Ceuta. 46 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,040 Man in blue shirt. 47 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:50,960 Tareq! 48 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:52,680 Simon, hello! 49 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,160 It's all right, finish the phone call! It's an urgent... 50 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:57,480 Urgent phone call, OK, don't worry. 51 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:00,520 So, Tareq is going to be our guide in Ceuta. 52 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,360 There's around 80,000 people living here. 53 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,720 I think it's fair to say most people in Europe haven't heard of Ceuta. 54 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,520 Have most Spanish people heard of this place? 55 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:31,800 One key feature here dominates life, 56 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:34,320 putting it on the front line of one of the biggest issues 57 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:36,120 around the Mediterranean. 58 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:41,080 So, this is the border, 59 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,480 and given that it's the line between Africa and the European Union, 60 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:46,800 as you can imagine, there are hundreds of thousands 61 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:49,240 of migrants and refugees who want to come across. 62 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:51,880 This is a heavily fortified border. 63 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:55,840 Spain has several outposts on the north African coast. 64 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:57,200 They're the only land borders 65 00:03:57,200 --> 00:03:59,400 between Africa and the European Union. 66 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:13,280 Since a new government in Italy said it was clamping down on illegal 67 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:17,080 migration, attempts to cross into Ceuta and into Spain 68 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:19,440 have more than quadrupled. 69 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:23,720 If they can get into Ceuta, they've got a chance of getting 70 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:28,680 across the water into Spain, to France, to Germany, to Europe. 71 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:42,160 In the dashboard?! 72 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:43,880 Si, si. 73 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:45,520 Can you show us what you mean? 74 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:51,480 That's incredible. 75 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:00,600 In the engine?! 76 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:07,240 Where would they fit there? Let's have a look. 77 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,760 What, so you have literally found cars with people hidden under here? 78 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:27,800 How did you feel when you saw that? 79 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,040 Ceuta has hardly any industry. 80 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:45,880 But VAT is lower in Ceuta. 81 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,720 It's a sort of duty-free port. 82 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:51,760 Warehouses here are stocked with cheap imported goods 83 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:55,360 from the EU, ready to be transported into Morocco. 84 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:02,720 What's going on here? 85 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,600 In a bizarre arrangement, up to 4,000 Moroccan women 86 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:29,880 are allowed to cross the border, carrying or wheeling as much 87 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:34,040 as they can by hand, as many times as they can. 88 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:36,960 Do you know how much it would weigh? 100 kilos. 89 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:41,720 100 kilos, we think, here, of shampoos and bath products. 90 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:47,800 Twice a week, these so-called "mule women" cross the border. 91 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:49,600 Other days, men have a turn. 92 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:52,680 It's hideously tough, but thousands of the poorest 93 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:54,280 have work as a result. 94 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:57,920 Meanwhile, Spanish Ceuta profits hugely 95 00:06:57,920 --> 00:06:59,600 from the sale of goods. 96 00:07:00,840 --> 00:07:05,480 The ladies here, often they are elderly and they are infirm. 97 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,000 This lady is wheeling stuff while she's got a crutch, 98 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:09,360 for goodness' sake. 99 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:39,000 So, they're desperate? 100 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:56,000 Can you make enough to live on? 101 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:57,600 Can you make enough to survive? 102 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:21,920 There is a lot of hard work and suffering as these ladies 103 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:25,960 are moving large bundles of goods around. 104 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:28,360 But, at the same time, many of them are saying, 105 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:30,080 "This is the only work we can get. 106 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:33,640 "If we don't do this, we go hungry." 107 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,600 Here, we have the absolute reality of life for so many 108 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,080 around the Mediterranean. 109 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:47,000 And the reality where a wealthy country like Spain butts up against 110 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:48,880 the relative poverty of Morocco. 111 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:52,640 There's unemployment and poverty in Morocco, 112 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,520 and in the rest of the huge continent to the south, 113 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:57,840 millions want to enter the EU. 114 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:00,280 It's why the Spanish government has been fortifying the ring 115 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:03,120 of steel that surrounds Ceuta. 116 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:07,160 This, more than anything I have seen anywhere, I think, 117 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:09,960 this is Fortress Europe. 118 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:14,240 Look at this system of fencing! 119 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:15,520 What is that? 120 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:20,120 Seven metres high, with razor wire on both fences here. 121 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:25,040 It's very hard to imagine people getting over this. 122 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:26,440 But they do. 123 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:33,160 On the other side, there are hundreds, thousands of migrants 124 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:38,960 hidden along this border, waiting for their chance to get across. 125 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:43,960 There is Morocco. 126 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,600 And that's where I want to head to next. 127 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:50,240 But, disappointingly, Morocco repeatedly failed to give us 128 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,880 permission to film my Mediterranean journey. 129 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:55,880 I decided to cross the border anyway, 130 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:58,560 travelling as a tourist, swapping professional equipment 131 00:09:58,560 --> 00:10:01,880 for a basic camera and smartphones. 132 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:04,440 We're hoping that if we use a small, touristy camera 133 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,680 then we won't get stopped or detained. 134 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:13,360 It's a beautiful country, attracting more than 11 million 135 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:15,600 tourists each year. 136 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:18,440 Yet it's an authoritarian and undemocratic state, 137 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:22,360 with a poor record on human rights and media freedom. 138 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:26,000 There have been recent reforms, but without filming permits, 139 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,440 we couldn't fully capture the glory of this place, 140 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:32,680 or talk to people on camera in case we got them into trouble. 141 00:10:32,680 --> 00:10:36,320 It's absolutely stunning here, 142 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:38,240 and, actually, very touristy, 143 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,040 but there is another aspect of life in this area 144 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:44,360 that the Moroccan government would rather you didn't know about. 145 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:49,960 In mountains and forests close to the Med, around the border 146 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:53,400 with Ceuta, migrants and refugees are on the run 147 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,000 from the Moroccan authorities. 148 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:58,280 Tareq was helping me track them down. 149 00:10:58,280 --> 00:10:59,840 How close are we now, Tareq? 150 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:06,960 Not a lot of military around. 151 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:09,040 So we stand a chance of not getting caught. 152 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:11,080 Well, that's... That's good! 153 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:16,960 We need to go quickly. 154 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:26,560 Migrants are in this area waiting for a chance to get into Ceuta 155 00:11:26,560 --> 00:11:28,960 or cross the Med to Spain. 156 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:31,800 Many are here illegally, and they stay well hidden. 157 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:39,080 We can see some movement in the bushes at the bottom of the valley. 158 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:45,800 As we headed down into the ravine, we realised we were being watched. 159 00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:04,520 WHISPERS: We need to go. 160 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:18,320 OK, we're coming up to a little tent...tented shack. 161 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:29,160 It's so makeshift. Look at this. 162 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:34,200 Tareq thinks this is a ladder used to climb the fences at Ceuta. 163 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:43,680 Do you think that's it? Or... 164 00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:45,520 No, no. We must to see. 165 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:51,800 CANS RATTLE 166 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:54,960 I mean, we are activating it deliberately 167 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:56,880 in the hope people are going to come out. 168 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:06,520 A very basic alarm system if the police... 169 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:08,040 RUSTLING IN BUSHES 170 00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:22,080 We've found them. 171 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:32,240 So we've just met up with a guy, a migrant, looks sub-Saharan African. 172 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:34,360 And we'll find out if we're allowed to film. 173 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:41,560 THEY SPEAK IN THEIR LANGUAGE 174 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:47,680 We're in the camp. 175 00:13:47,680 --> 00:13:49,520 They're letting us film. 176 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:54,080 They're worried for us about people who are up on the hill watching. 177 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:55,720 We'll worry about that later. 178 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:57,640 Can we sit down together and talk? 179 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:00,040 Yeah, yeah, you can. Yeah? 180 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:01,760 How long have you been in the forest? 181 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:05,760 Nine months? 182 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:10,040 Guinea? 183 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:16,960 These young lads have travelled thousands of miles and crossed 184 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:20,000 the Sahara to get here, close to the fence with Ceuta. 185 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:55,160 Babylon is the people of Europe, for him. 186 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:57,720 Babylon is Europe? Yes. Yeah. Europe is Babylon? 187 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:17,640 You made it over the fence? 188 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:36,600 Yes, the razor wire. 189 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,480 Do you know anybody who has made it into Ceuta? 190 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:07,640 They've made it to Madrid? 191 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:16,280 But success stories are rare. 192 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:18,800 And even those who make it to Europe certainly aren't guaranteed 193 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:21,240 a job or a future. 194 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:23,240 I can't be too hopeful for them, 195 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:25,720 that they're going to make it across the border. 196 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:28,440 I've tried to avoid giving them false hope. 197 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:31,200 It's incredibly difficult, but they know people 198 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:32,360 who've made it over. 199 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:35,960 They know people who've made it across the water to Europe 200 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:40,560 and have achieved what they see as the success. 201 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,960 And those stories, which are often spread now by social media, 202 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:49,000 ensure that many more young men will up sticks across Africa 203 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:52,120 and head north towards the promised land. 204 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:00,280 We haven't spent long with them, but I think our time is up. 205 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:03,360 We can hear more voices coming from the hillside opposite. 206 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:06,120 I think we need to get out of here. 207 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:16,160 God, they're saying good luck to us. 208 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:25,600 MUSIC 209 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:32,120 We've crossed the Mediterranean, from Africa to Europe, 210 00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:34,640 from Morocco to Spain, 211 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:39,680 it feels like under the watchful eye of those lads in the forest, 212 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:45,320 who look every day at these big ships, carrying their hopes 213 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:50,200 and their dreams across to southern Spain. 214 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:57,320 And I just get to do it, thanks to this little thing - 215 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:00,960 my passport. 216 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:07,520 An accident of birth. 217 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:12,320 I felt lucky to be heading to mainland Spain across one 218 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,640 of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. 219 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:18,840 The Strait of Gibraltar links the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. 220 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:21,520 It's just nine miles wide. 221 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,760 You can cross it in half an hour by ferry. 222 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:29,720 Half of the world's trade and 80% of goods and gas consumed by the EU 223 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:32,880 pass through this narrow channel. 224 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:35,600 But the Strait is home to so much more than just tankers, 225 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:37,720 ferries and container ships. 226 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:39,920 Hello! Hello. Rocio? Hello! 227 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:42,280 And how do I say your name? Ro-THEE-oh. 228 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:45,880 Rocio. Very nice to meet you. I'm Simon Reeve. Very nice to meet you. 229 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:49,160 Lovely to see you. Welcome on board. Thank you. 230 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,440 Rocio Espada is a Spanish marine biologist. 231 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:55,480 She studies marine life in the Strait of Gibraltar, 232 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:58,480 where nutrient-rich current from the bottom of the Med 233 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:01,520 meets water flowing in from the Atlantic, 234 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:04,600 providing ideal feeding conditions. 235 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:08,960 We have a really big biodiversity in a very small space. 236 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:12,880 We can get more than around 1,000 dolphins in the area. 237 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:14,480 A thousand dolphins here?! 238 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,320 Yeah, well... That means, hopefully, we should be able to 239 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:19,560 spot dolphins here. Yeah, hopefully. 240 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:21,840 You can't be stopped, can you? You're already looking. 241 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:23,320 I'm all the time. 242 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,480 As soon as I'm in front of the sea, I need to be looking all the time. 243 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:27,720 It's an obsession! 244 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:29,920 We've got people pointing their fingers over here. 245 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:31,560 Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're making... 246 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:34,280 Look! Look at all of them! 247 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:37,040 How many are here? Looks like maybe 30? Yeah. 248 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:38,920 That is a good number. 249 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,560 You've got newborns on the other side of the group as well, guys. 250 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:43,880 Oh, just racing through the water. 251 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:46,760 Yes, brights and commons, both mixing together. 252 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:49,040 Here, guys... Oh, they're with us! 253 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:51,760 There's one there. 254 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:53,520 Now they're over here, just here. 255 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:54,640 Whoa! 256 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:58,920 The speed they move is just incredible. 257 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:01,760 They are like torpedoes in the water. 258 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:06,200 And then they're over there. And then they're back. 259 00:20:09,360 --> 00:20:10,720 HE LAUGHS 260 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:19,720 They're so incredibly curious and playful. 261 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:26,000 Oh, God, there's nothing almost I love more in the sea. 262 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:31,880 They were just here. 263 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:32,920 Look. 264 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:35,960 Mummies and babies, they hang around, you know, 265 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:37,840 in the shallowest part of the bay. 266 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:40,840 And, well, as you see, refineries, ports. 267 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:42,840 But, mummies and newborns. 268 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:44,680 Is this an oil refinery over here? 269 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:46,520 That's an oil refinery. 270 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:47,760 It's huge! 271 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:49,320 Massive. It's massive. 272 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:54,080 I'm just stunned that these dolphins are having to exist in this... 273 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:56,920 It's almost like being next to the motorway. 274 00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:00,680 More than 100,000 vessels pass through the Strait each year. 275 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:03,200 Dolphins have to run the gauntlet. 276 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,040 The boat here is going to go straight into them! 277 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:09,240 They're slowing down, I think, aren't they? 278 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:10,880 I hope so. 279 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:12,360 Sometimes, babies, you know, 280 00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:14,160 they cannot dive as fast, the baby calves, 281 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:15,800 as their mothers can do, 282 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,480 and it doesn't swim as fast as the mothers can do, 283 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:22,560 so it is true that sometimes there is collisions. 284 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:24,040 Look at this one, guys. 285 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:27,000 You got one without a dorsal fin here. 286 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:29,160 I will show you some pictures that we've been taking. 287 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:31,840 Yeah, love to... Well, I say love to, but... 288 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:35,600 Rocio and her team have been monitoring the health of the dolphin 289 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:37,440 population in the Strait. 290 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:39,480 It's not nice to see, guys, but, uh... 291 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:42,200 So it's just had its dorsal fin there...? 292 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:44,440 Yeah, it looks like it's gone. It's been mutilated. 293 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:47,000 These can be related to propellers. 294 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:48,480 Oh, that's flesh. 295 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:51,840 Mm, this is very fresh, and we think this is a fishing line. 296 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:54,080 And it's just ripped into the fin there. 297 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:55,200 Ripped into the fin. 298 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:57,840 When they are casting and reel it in with their pulls, 299 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:01,680 or maybe when they hook a tuna, yeah, and the dolphin's passing, 300 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:03,480 that, you know, these things happen. 301 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:07,840 Then interactions with plastic. 302 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:11,680 We located a striped dolphin that put its nose, or its beak, 303 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:15,120 through a ring, like the ring that you get in the bottles. 304 00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:16,960 Oh, my God. 305 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:18,640 Probably this belonged maybe to an oil can, 306 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:21,200 because it is a little bit bigger. 307 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:22,800 This animal died because of starvation. 308 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:24,480 Because it stopped eating. 309 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:27,240 It was shameful, it was like a really, really bad situation, 310 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:31,360 because we could see it, but it was impossible to catch it. 311 00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:32,920 That's horrific. 312 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:41,280 Ballena, ballena, ballena! 313 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:43,520 Llama Luisa, llama Luisa! 314 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:45,480 Llama Luisa. 315 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:46,720 What did you see? 316 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:48,960 I think I've seen a blow, OK, 317 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:51,960 in the choppy waters, and I think I've seen actually the back 318 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:53,040 of the animal. 319 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:54,800 Yes, yes! 320 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:55,920 Whale! 321 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:57,400 There they go! There they go! 322 00:22:57,400 --> 00:22:59,160 Two of them, two of them. 323 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:00,600 They're fin whales. 324 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:02,840 Look at the size of them. It's a submarine! 325 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:06,120 This is the second-biggest whale in the world. 326 00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:09,120 The second biggest whale on planet Earth. 327 00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:11,760 Oh, my goodness! 328 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,200 This is... Wow, this is really close! Look! 329 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,920 Whales, at the mouth of the Mediterranean! 330 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:25,760 Looks like a mummy and a baby, guys. 331 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:29,720 We might think of the Med as being a smaller sea, 332 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,200 but it's a home for giants. 333 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:35,680 The fin whale can be as heavy as a Boeing 757. 334 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:39,280 It's one of the largest creatures on our planet, ever. 335 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:40,840 But for how much longer? 336 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,800 Marine mammal numbers are in steep decline. 337 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:48,760 Common dolphins, they reduce their population since 1960, to 50%. 338 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:54,960 Dolphin numbers have dropped by 50%? 339 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:56,480 In the Mediterranean, yes. 340 00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:58,320 One of the main problems of common dolphins, 341 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:01,200 for example, is that all the fishing is happening, and the animals 342 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:03,480 just don't have enough food. 343 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:05,320 The fish are disappearing. 344 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:08,040 And if it's disappearing, they have to move to different places 345 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,360 or they starve. They are getting, like, to starve. 346 00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:12,360 And you can see them really, really thin. 347 00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:14,840 You can even see the ribs on them. 348 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:17,000 You're seeing starving dolphins? 349 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:19,120 We've seen a few emaciated dolphins, yeah. 350 00:24:19,120 --> 00:24:21,200 A few skinny ones, yeah. Emaciated, really? 351 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:22,840 Yeah, emaciated. 352 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:25,120 What state is the Mediterranean in? 353 00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:27,560 It needs help. I think it needs help. 354 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:30,080 The thing is, you know, if we turn our back to it, 355 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:31,400 everything will go. 356 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:35,000 So it's just a little bit that is left, you know, to try to treat with 357 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,080 a little bit of care, you know? 358 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:56,800 I travelled up the southeastern coast of Spain, where the landscape 359 00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,640 becomes a beautiful but arid wilderness. 360 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:13,120 This is actually the driest area of Europe. 361 00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:16,080 Spain is home to Europe's only desert. 362 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:20,560 And it's a landscape that has stood in for the Wild West 363 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:23,800 and the Middle East in movies like Lawrence Of Arabia, 364 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,240 The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. 365 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,240 Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. 366 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:35,680 A few miles inland from the Med, the Tabernas Desert is Europe 367 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:37,240 at its most extreme, 368 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:41,280 where temperatures regularly reach 50 degrees, 369 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:43,880 and just a drizzle of rain falls every year. 370 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:58,720 You would think nothing could grow here. 371 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:02,080 But you'd be wrong. 372 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:10,440 In Almeria, the stretch of coast that borders the desert, 373 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:11,720 I took to the air. 374 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:17,600 Whoa! 375 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:20,880 HE LAUGHS 376 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:22,120 Oh, it's wonderful! 377 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:28,000 The sea looks absolutely stunning. 378 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:31,640 Oh, my God. 379 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:40,520 As far as the eye can see, thousands and thousands 380 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:42,600 of acres of plastic. 381 00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:47,320 Right out to the base of the mountains, 382 00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:51,680 almost touching the Mediterranean down at the coast. 383 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:56,400 Right out as far over there as I can see into the distance. 384 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:59,440 This is Europe's market garden. 385 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:06,280 Unless you survive on local turnips, chances are you've eaten fruit 386 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:09,800 and veg from here, especially in the winter. 387 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:13,720 The plastic greenhouses of Almeria are a phenomenon, 388 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:17,120 covering the land for more than 100 square miles. 389 00:27:17,120 --> 00:27:19,320 All right, we're coming in to land now. 390 00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:21,840 Ah! 391 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:24,760 HE LAUGHS 392 00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:32,840 In the 1950s and '60s, cheap plastic sheeting 393 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:35,280 revolutionised farming here. 394 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:39,520 Suddenly, it was possible for anyone to create a greenhouse and grow 395 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,960 crops quickly all year round with lax regulation. 396 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:46,320 These greenhouses now supply much of our favourite fruit and veg. 397 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:52,080 Stop here. 398 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:53,360 Thank you very much. 399 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:57,440 British supermarkets are some of the farmers' biggest customers. 400 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:01,720 See, look, you can see in here, I think these are aubergines. 401 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:04,040 Thousands and thousands of them. 402 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:12,400 This is an enormous operation, but I'm hoping we're going 403 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:14,840 to be able to meet some of the people who work 404 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:16,440 in these greenhouses. 405 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:24,400 Many of the workers here are migrants. 406 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:27,640 They're believed to number more than 50,000. 407 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:30,400 Most have come from north and Sub-Saharan Africa. 408 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:36,800 Suleiman's from Mali. 409 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,360 He's been working in the greenhouses for seven years. 410 00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:45,920 Suleiman, what is this place? 411 00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:58,320 It's swelteringly hot in here now, 412 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:01,800 It must be 90 degrees or so at the moment. 413 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:06,440 It must get over 100 in here during the height of the summer. 414 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:08,640 What are the working conditions like here? 415 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:47,200 Have you ever had a situation 416 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,680 where one of the workers here has died? 417 00:29:58,640 --> 00:29:59,840 Un amigo? 418 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:05,520 Like thousands of other migrants, Suleiman crossed the Mediterranean 419 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:08,000 illegally on a raft. 420 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:09,840 But since finding a job in the greenhouses, 421 00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:12,160 he's been allowed to live and work here. 422 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:18,760 Suleiman rents a decrepit four-bedroom house 423 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:21,640 he has to share with 15 other migrant workers. 424 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:23,000 Good Lord, look at this. 425 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:31,640 Ah, so there's a shower... Si. ..room.... 426 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:35,440 ..with a very dodgy electrical set-up in here. Si. 427 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:38,520 It's all they can afford, and all that's available. 428 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:39,480 Goodness. 429 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:43,280 So, how many people use this kitchen? 430 00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:00,560 I just went to lean on the sink here... 431 00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:02,200 Si. 432 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:05,040 ..and it's not actually solid. Si. 433 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:12,160 Do you actually have to pay rent to live here? 434 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,400 That sounds shocking. 435 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:30,680 Have you complained to anybody about your pay, 436 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:33,960 your working conditions, where you're living? 437 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:10,240 I'm really... I'm really shocked. 438 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:12,200 And I'm going... 439 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:17,160 I'm sort of moving from sadness to anger at their situation. 440 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:23,480 There's an industrial plant just here, right next to where they live. 441 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:26,400 And then... 442 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:28,560 There is a main road. 443 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:30,360 Careful, careful. 444 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:33,360 Look, with cars zipping along. 445 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:36,240 It's not hidden deep within the greenhouses. 446 00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:41,320 This is a very visible. 447 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:42,960 It's completely scandalous. 448 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:48,000 And I think it's also shocking that the massive international 449 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:51,920 supermarket chains are buying their produce from here, 450 00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:54,560 without checking on the conditions of the workers. 451 00:32:54,560 --> 00:32:57,800 Because if they came here, they could see from the main road - 452 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:01,080 they don't even need to get out of a limousine to see that people 453 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:04,080 are living here in unacceptable conditions. 454 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:10,800 The greenhouses of Almeria have turned some farmers here 455 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:12,840 into millionaires. 456 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:16,360 They generate well over £1 billion for the region, 457 00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:20,320 much of it earned on the backs of the downtrodden and the desperate. 458 00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:22,200 Look at.. Look at this. 459 00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:27,240 This is an enormous resort, and well-watered golf course... 460 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:33,400 ..surrounded by an entire sea of plastic. 461 00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:40,320 Yards from where Suleiman's living, it felt like a world away. 462 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:46,120 What's the dream that still keeps you here? 463 00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:01,560 Why can't it become a reality? 464 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:27,000 Just a short while ago, I was on the other side of the sea 465 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:30,640 in a forest in Morocco talking to a group of young lads 466 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:34,480 who are risking their lives to get here. 467 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:36,080 What would you say to them? 468 00:34:53,200 --> 00:34:58,200 Do you know anyone who has come across and made what you might call 469 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:15,520 Is that what it is, then - 470 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:19,680 the chances of success or failure, it's just a lottery? 471 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:21,000 One in a million? 472 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:35,320 I really think that this journey has shown me much more of 473 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:39,880 the reality of the migration story and crisis around the Mediterranean. 474 00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:45,960 The population of Africa is going to increase dramatically 475 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:51,240 over the next two decades, and I expect millions and millions 476 00:35:51,240 --> 00:35:56,280 of people will want and need to head north towards the Mediterranean. 477 00:35:56,520 --> 00:36:01,240 The only solution I can see that is just and humane 478 00:36:01,240 --> 00:36:05,720 is if countries to the south from here, perhaps with outside help, 479 00:36:05,720 --> 00:36:10,160 can develop their economies so they are able to offer jobs 480 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:13,600 and purpose and hope to their populations. 481 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:21,560 There's a very human story behind these anonymous greenhouses. 482 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:24,160 There's also a huge environmental impact. 483 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:30,880 Even beyond the greenhouses, 484 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:35,120 where the landscape opens into stretches of untouched, 485 00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:37,560 beautiful Mediterranean coast. 486 00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:48,960 So, what we're on now, what we're climbing up here, 487 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:50,680 this is basically a riverbed? 488 00:36:50,680 --> 00:36:54,200 Exactly. A riverbed that, of course, is dry right now 489 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:56,720 because it hasn't rained in a while. 490 00:36:56,720 --> 00:37:00,280 So you can see we're just a little distance above the sea. 491 00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:03,400 Daniel Rolleri is an expert on marine pollution 492 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:06,840 who's campaigning and fighting to save the Med. 493 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:10,880 We can see what I call a good example 494 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:14,400 of this new geological age... 495 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:16,600 Oh, my God. 496 00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:20,880 ..in which, you know, the plastic is totally integrated 497 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,680 into the soil in the different layers. 498 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:27,280 This is not just one. 499 00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:30,160 This means one on top of the other. 500 00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:31,640 Can you see? 501 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:36,560 You know, and it really shows the footprint of humankind on Earth. 502 00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:39,160 This is unbelievable. 503 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:42,520 This looks like plastic used in agriculture. 504 00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:46,440 This is the greenhouse plastic. And these are the... 505 00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:47,840 Are you... 506 00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:50,720 Daniel, are you telling me that when the greenhouses 507 00:37:50,720 --> 00:37:55,200 change their plastic, it's not recycled by law? 508 00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:59,280 Most of the plastic are abandoned, you know, or... 509 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:02,120 It's just cheaper to chuck it away? Exactly. 510 00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:04,880 To take it away takes time, it takes labour. 511 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:09,800 You know, and this is cheaper, to just leave it behind. 512 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:15,280 So this is one of the ways for trash to reach the sea. 513 00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:21,960 Here, it barely rains, but when it does, it rains a lot - it pours. 514 00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:26,680 So, all this plastic here gets flooded out into the sea? Totally. 515 00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:30,520 Yes, it's like a highway, nonstop into the sea. 516 00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:31,800 This is... 517 00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:35,440 This makes me feel sick. 518 00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:40,440 I feel disgusted by our systems that enable this to be even possible. 519 00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:46,760 This is completely...obscene. 520 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:49,240 This is very upsetting, and obscene. 521 00:38:49,240 --> 00:38:51,480 And look at this. Do you know what this is? 522 00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:54,280 This is a tray where they have the little plants 523 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:56,640 of tomatoes, lettuce, peppers. 524 00:38:56,640 --> 00:39:01,400 So they work, planting them, and then they throw it away. 525 00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:05,280 This is very light, you know, the wind will blow this into 526 00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:08,160 the ocean and it starts like breaking into pieces. 527 00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:10,160 Have a look at this just here. 528 00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:14,400 And it just breaks down, can you see, into smaller and smaller parts. 529 00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:19,320 And this will end up in the ocean, in the sea, sooner or later. 530 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:21,080 No doubt about it. 531 00:39:21,080 --> 00:39:24,360 In tiny, tiny fragments. 532 00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:28,040 And this is what the marine wildlife eat. 533 00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:31,640 And that's why then plastic is in the food chain. 534 00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:37,160 The Mediterranean holds 1% of the Earth's sea water, 535 00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:41,080 but 7% of the world's microplastic waste. 536 00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:45,960 As a species, we have positioned ourselves 537 00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:47,800 outside of the environment. 538 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:49,960 When we see problems like this, we think that, 539 00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:53,000 "Well, this is an environmental problem, I am not part of it. 540 00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:55,120 "That's an environmental problem." Mm. 541 00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:58,040 Now, it's coming closer and closer to human beings. 542 00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:00,600 It's not only in the food chain. 543 00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:05,560 Plastic is within tap water, and salt. 544 00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:07,800 In sea salt. 545 00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:09,560 It's astonishing. 546 00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:11,880 It's embarrassing. In the name of economy, of profits, 547 00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:13,840 we are doing this. 548 00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:15,960 For me, you know, it's unbelievable. 549 00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:18,600 It's very embarrassing, as a species, 550 00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:20,640 we are doing this to ourselves. 551 00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:24,640 Because we are shooting on our foot, you know? 552 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:46,000 along the coast of southern Spain. 553 00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:49,240 Fishing is still a huge industry here, and Spain 554 00:40:49,240 --> 00:40:51,280 has the sea's largest fleet. 555 00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:54,520 Hiya! Simon. Nice to meet you. 556 00:40:56,400 --> 00:40:59,800 I caught a lift to a trawler that had been out since dawn. 557 00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:11,800 What are you doing now? 558 00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:23,160 The fishermen here have signed up to an extraordinary new scheme. 559 00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:31,400 They're fishing out plastic from the Med. 560 00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:36,560 Plastic, plastic... 561 00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:45,840 The plastic they collect is recycled into top-end clothing and bags. 562 00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:48,600 Bloody hell, there's loads. 563 00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:51,640 Are you shocked by how much plastic you're pulling out now? 564 00:42:18,240 --> 00:42:22,000 The fishermen in the Ecoalf project have hauled in more than 565 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:25,960 250 tonnes of plastic from the bottom of the sea. 566 00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:28,560 But it's just a fraction of the tide of plastic 567 00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:30,640 heading the other way. 568 00:42:30,640 --> 00:42:35,680 An estimated 730 tonnes of plastic waste is now entering 569 00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:38,840 the Mediterranean every day. 570 00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:56,400 Circling the sea was taking me to one of the epicentres 571 00:42:56,400 --> 00:42:58,640 of global tourism - 572 00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:00,800 the Costa Blanca. 573 00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:04,520 Just one of four million Brits alone who make this journey every year. 574 00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:14,520 How busy is the hotel? 575 00:43:14,520 --> 00:43:17,240 It's fully booked. Fully booked? Fully booked, yeah. 576 00:43:17,240 --> 00:43:19,520 How many rooms do you have? 776. 577 00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:24,120 Wow. OK. 578 00:43:24,120 --> 00:43:25,880 OK... 579 00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:28,920 The Mediterranean attracts more than 300 million 580 00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:30,360 visitors a year. 581 00:43:30,360 --> 00:43:34,320 It's a third of the entire world's tourist market. 582 00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:37,320 And this resort is one of the biggest and most successful 583 00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:38,640 anywhere on the planet. 584 00:43:39,760 --> 00:43:42,880 It's the Manhattan of Spain! 585 00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:47,600 The grandaddy of all package-holiday resorts. 586 00:43:47,600 --> 00:43:49,640 Benidorm! 587 00:43:52,160 --> 00:43:56,720 In the 1950s, this was a fishing community of just over 1,000 people. 588 00:43:56,720 --> 00:43:58,800 It's grown a bit since then. 589 00:43:58,800 --> 00:44:02,560 High-rise Benidorm pulls in almost two million visitors a year. 590 00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:05,080 It's seen as a place for tanked-up Brits, 591 00:44:05,080 --> 00:44:06,880 but actually, it's a major family resort, 592 00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:09,000 particularly for the Spanish. 593 00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:11,120 The beach can get a little busy, 594 00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:15,160 but despite the crowds, it has a prized blue flag for cleanliness. 595 00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:17,760 I joined Rafa Peres on his afternoon shift. 596 00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:30,640 It's ironic, actually, that I have seen so much plastic 597 00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:34,960 rubbish on beaches around the Mediterranean that are completely 598 00:44:34,960 --> 00:44:38,000 unused generally by people, and we come here, 599 00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:40,240 to one of the busiest beaches in the world, 600 00:44:40,240 --> 00:44:42,640 and you're keeping it completely spotless! 601 00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:48,760 Rafa's battling to keep our plastic out of the sea. 602 00:44:48,760 --> 00:44:51,400 After China, Europe's the second-largest producer 603 00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:55,480 of plastic, creating 27 million tonnes of plastic waste. 604 00:44:55,480 --> 00:44:58,280 There's a lot of people on the beach, are there too many? 605 00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:21,840 5:30 in the morning?! Si! 606 00:45:21,840 --> 00:45:23,600 Is that the English or the Germans? 607 00:45:25,120 --> 00:45:27,160 No?! Seriously? 608 00:45:27,160 --> 00:45:30,160 They're the most professional about the beach...? 609 00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:46,200 The competition for sunbeds is only going to get more fierce. 610 00:45:46,200 --> 00:45:48,480 In the next ten years, tourists visiting the Med 611 00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:51,120 will nearly double, to half a billion. 612 00:45:51,120 --> 00:45:54,400 Managing the hordes will be a huge environmental challenge. 613 00:45:54,400 --> 00:45:57,000 Grand resorts like this aren't everyone's cup of tea, 614 00:45:57,000 --> 00:46:00,080 but maybe they're part of the answer. 615 00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:03,320 There is an argument, actually, that Benidorm as a resort 616 00:46:03,320 --> 00:46:07,320 is more sustainable than other resorts that Brits go to 617 00:46:07,320 --> 00:46:08,800 on their holidays. 618 00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:11,920 For a start, because everyone's crammed into quite a small space, 619 00:46:11,920 --> 00:46:15,280 you don't need the sort of infrastructure that would be 620 00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:17,880 required if the resort sprawled out along the whole 621 00:46:17,880 --> 00:46:19,560 of the Spanish coastline. 622 00:46:19,560 --> 00:46:23,000 There's a smaller individual footprint for tourists 623 00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:24,720 who come here. 624 00:46:24,720 --> 00:46:28,560 Benidorm, derided by those who'd never touch a package holiday, 625 00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:31,520 is actually held up by some experts as a pretty good example 626 00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:33,680 of sustainable mass tourism. 627 00:46:33,680 --> 00:46:36,600 But with millions more heading to the Med, it still feels 628 00:46:36,600 --> 00:46:38,240 like damage limitation. 629 00:46:40,800 --> 00:46:44,280 Leaving Spain, I headed to one of the most unspoiled parts 630 00:46:44,280 --> 00:46:45,520 of the whole sea. 631 00:46:46,720 --> 00:46:49,360 A western corner of the French island of Corsica. 632 00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:56,880 With dramatic beaches and soaring mountains, 633 00:46:56,880 --> 00:46:59,880 nature is at the heart of Corsica's appeal. 634 00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:07,880 I've arrived into Corsica. 635 00:47:07,880 --> 00:47:11,520 It's known as The Beautiful Island. 636 00:47:11,520 --> 00:47:14,560 I'm coming to the end of my journey around the Mediterranean, 637 00:47:14,560 --> 00:47:17,600 but this place looks like a bit of a treat for all of us. 638 00:47:20,480 --> 00:47:22,280 Jean Marie! Salut. 639 00:47:23,320 --> 00:47:26,560 Bonjour! Simon. Simon Reeve. 640 00:47:26,560 --> 00:47:28,800 Permission to come aboard? Come on. 641 00:47:30,280 --> 00:47:34,160 I'd come to see a unique project led by Jean Marie Dominici, 642 00:47:34,160 --> 00:47:36,920 a man on a mission to zealously protect his patch 643 00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:38,400 of the Mediterranean. 644 00:47:49,760 --> 00:47:52,640 Well, look, thank you for letting us come to visit. 645 00:47:58,800 --> 00:48:02,360 This is the Scandola nature reserve. 646 00:48:02,360 --> 00:48:05,760 It's a shining, glorious Mediterranean gem. 647 00:48:07,440 --> 00:48:10,440 An area without roads or buildings, 648 00:48:10,440 --> 00:48:13,720 where land and sea are at their wildest. 649 00:48:13,720 --> 00:48:17,520 Where giant volcanic rock formations create a landscape 650 00:48:17,520 --> 00:48:19,240 of awe and wonder. 651 00:48:22,440 --> 00:48:26,160 It's the geology that led to the creation of the park originally, 652 00:48:26,160 --> 00:48:28,960 but as a result of the creation of the park, 653 00:48:28,960 --> 00:48:32,520 it's biodiversity that has really flourished. 654 00:48:34,440 --> 00:48:37,440 Scandola is one of the most protracted marine areas 655 00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:39,720 on the planet. 656 00:48:39,720 --> 00:48:44,000 In a sea where over 90% of fish stocks are overexploited, 657 00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:46,600 here, sea life finds a rare sanctuary. 658 00:49:06,640 --> 00:49:08,760 So, you're going to let us have a swim and a dive 659 00:49:08,760 --> 00:49:10,840 in the fishiest area in the Mediterranean? 660 00:49:10,840 --> 00:49:12,400 That's a hell of a treat. 661 00:49:12,400 --> 00:49:13,440 Thank you. 662 00:49:15,280 --> 00:49:18,720 There are nearly 200 species of fish here, 663 00:49:18,720 --> 00:49:22,560 including some that have disappeared from elsewhere in the Mediterranean. 664 00:50:04,600 --> 00:50:05,800 Whoa! 665 00:50:07,240 --> 00:50:11,120 It is... It's absolutely stunning. 666 00:50:12,760 --> 00:50:17,360 I mean, the whole environment here is just incredible. 667 00:50:18,840 --> 00:50:23,480 It feels as though I've stepped back in time to an era before humans 668 00:50:23,480 --> 00:50:25,760 made their mark on the planet. 669 00:50:26,760 --> 00:50:28,360 It's breathtaking. 670 00:50:30,040 --> 00:50:34,240 Diving at Scandola requires permits reserved for scientists, 671 00:50:34,240 --> 00:50:37,040 so Jean Marie had taken a camera down to depths I couldn't reach 672 00:50:37,040 --> 00:50:38,360 with just my lungs. 673 00:50:39,520 --> 00:50:41,320 So, we've dried off, 674 00:50:41,320 --> 00:50:44,600 and we've downloaded the footage that you've shot. 675 00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:51,200 Oh, look! 676 00:50:57,600 --> 00:50:58,840 Bigger, bigger! 677 00:50:58,840 --> 00:51:00,680 Bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger?! 678 00:51:00,680 --> 00:51:02,320 No, no, no, no. About that? 679 00:52:06,320 --> 00:52:10,080 But all this is only possible with protection that Jean Marie 680 00:52:10,080 --> 00:52:12,840 and his team enforce with a rod of iron. 681 00:52:20,640 --> 00:52:23,520 Protection means banning fishing and hunting. 682 00:52:23,520 --> 00:52:26,200 Watersports are banned, and although tourists can enter 683 00:52:26,200 --> 00:52:29,280 the reserve by boat, regulations apply. 684 00:52:29,280 --> 00:52:30,640 Strict regulations. 685 00:52:53,840 --> 00:52:56,360 I feel really sorry for them! 686 00:52:56,360 --> 00:52:58,600 They were just having a nice time. 687 00:53:13,200 --> 00:53:15,960 Oh, OK, sorry, we didn't know. You are on the boat? 688 00:53:15,960 --> 00:53:17,800 Yeah, we go now. 689 00:53:17,800 --> 00:53:21,000 Yeah, we're going back to the boat, OK. Sorry. 690 00:53:21,000 --> 00:53:22,480 That is the thing, isn't it? 691 00:53:22,480 --> 00:53:26,720 We each feel our individual action and behaviour isn't... 692 00:53:26,720 --> 00:53:28,920 doesn't have a negative consequence. 693 00:53:33,400 --> 00:53:34,440 OK. 694 00:53:36,760 --> 00:53:40,720 But it's when these behaviours are replicated, 1,000, 10,000, 695 00:53:40,720 --> 00:53:44,000 a million, 7 billion times, 696 00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:48,600 that's when individual human becomes hugely destructive. 697 00:53:48,600 --> 00:53:50,280 How much is this yacht worth? 698 00:54:00,680 --> 00:54:04,520 This is quite the image of privilege over here. 699 00:54:04,520 --> 00:54:09,320 This is the tender for the larger metallic blue boat over yonder. 700 00:54:11,600 --> 00:54:13,240 WHISTLING 701 00:54:20,160 --> 00:54:25,200 The noise echoes around, and it disturbs wildlife that's roosting 702 00:54:25,760 --> 00:54:27,640 and living in the cliffs. 703 00:54:47,840 --> 00:54:49,200 He's tough! 704 00:54:49,200 --> 00:54:52,240 IMITATES WHIP CRACKING But you have to be. 705 00:54:52,240 --> 00:54:56,160 A tiny area of this sea enjoys proper protection. 706 00:54:56,160 --> 00:54:59,160 Scientists say the European Union and governments should establish 707 00:54:59,160 --> 00:55:03,320 a network of marine reserves across the Med to protect life. 708 00:55:03,320 --> 00:55:06,640 This reserve does actually leave me feeling quite... 709 00:55:06,640 --> 00:55:08,240 ..quite hopeful. 710 00:55:09,320 --> 00:55:14,280 I think it shows that there is a future for the Mediterranean. 711 00:55:14,560 --> 00:55:18,560 Life in this sea can be protected, 712 00:55:18,560 --> 00:55:23,600 it can be preserved, if there are rules that can be followed, 713 00:55:23,800 --> 00:55:27,840 a bit of inspiring leadership, and if people get tough. 714 00:55:27,840 --> 00:55:30,000 They almost have to be militant. 715 00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:32,040 But then, there is hope. 716 00:55:47,120 --> 00:55:49,320 Another ferry. Nearly there! 717 00:55:52,800 --> 00:55:56,800 Corsica was much more beautiful than I'd expected. 718 00:55:56,800 --> 00:55:59,680 I left the island and took a ferry north. 719 00:56:04,360 --> 00:56:07,840 In front of me is the south of France. 720 00:56:07,840 --> 00:56:10,080 I'm getting very close to the end of my journey 721 00:56:10,080 --> 00:56:11,680 around the Mediterranean now. 722 00:56:11,680 --> 00:56:15,160 And this feels like the right place to finish, 723 00:56:15,160 --> 00:56:20,160 because, since the time of the Victorians and through Hollywood, 724 00:56:20,400 --> 00:56:24,440 this has really defined the image of the Mediterranean. 725 00:56:30,120 --> 00:56:32,120 Merci. Au revoir. 726 00:56:37,040 --> 00:56:39,440 So, I'm getting the train to Monaco. 727 00:56:40,480 --> 00:56:43,120 A basic commuter train took me east, 728 00:56:43,120 --> 00:56:44,960 along the French Riviera. 729 00:56:46,000 --> 00:56:50,640 Perhaps more than anywhere else, the tiny principality of Monaco 730 00:56:50,640 --> 00:56:54,160 is supposed to epitomise the glamour of the Mediterranean - 731 00:56:54,160 --> 00:56:57,560 the Med as playground of the rich and famous. 732 00:56:57,560 --> 00:57:00,440 Well, this is the dream... 733 00:57:00,440 --> 00:57:03,120 ..for many Europeans, as well as for tens of millions of people 734 00:57:03,120 --> 00:57:05,080 on the other side of the Mediterranean - 735 00:57:05,080 --> 00:57:07,480 rich and wealthy Europe. 736 00:57:08,800 --> 00:57:11,560 Of course, very few people on either side of the sea 737 00:57:11,560 --> 00:57:14,080 could afford to actually live here. 738 00:57:14,080 --> 00:57:18,320 Property prices in Monaco are the most expensive in the world, 739 00:57:18,320 --> 00:57:21,160 and it's home to the highest concentration of millionaires 740 00:57:21,160 --> 00:57:25,160 and billionaires, lured - the uncharitable might suspect - 741 00:57:25,160 --> 00:57:27,200 by the prospect of zero tax. 742 00:57:28,760 --> 00:57:31,400 What's that smell? 743 00:57:31,400 --> 00:57:32,680 Dirty, rotten money! 744 00:57:33,880 --> 00:57:35,160 Monaco. 745 00:57:35,160 --> 00:57:38,160 Land of the filthy rich, or, as one writer put it, 746 00:57:38,160 --> 00:57:41,680 a sunny place for shady people. 747 00:57:41,680 --> 00:57:44,000 Not that the owners of these vehicles have done anything 748 00:57:44,000 --> 00:57:45,840 wrong at all, of course. 749 00:57:48,600 --> 00:57:52,440 For me, much of Monaco is Europe at its worst. 750 00:57:52,440 --> 00:57:55,840 Europe for the elite, with the ladder pulled up 751 00:57:55,840 --> 00:57:57,880 and the drawbridge closed. 752 00:57:58,840 --> 00:58:01,760 It's a striking example of in-your-face wealth, 753 00:58:01,760 --> 00:58:05,360 at the other end of the scale from many places I've seen 754 00:58:05,360 --> 00:58:07,280 on my travels around this great sea. 755 00:58:08,680 --> 00:58:13,720 Well, this is the end of one of my most surprising journeys. 756 00:58:13,880 --> 00:58:16,200 The Mediterranean! 757 00:58:16,200 --> 00:58:21,160 From Malta to the Gaza Strip, from Libya to Monaco... 758 00:58:21,200 --> 00:58:24,280 It is a place of utter extremes.