The Almarian Maritime Patrol confirmed last evening that the first round of water-quality samples taken along the Cape Vell corridor had returned within permitted hydrocarbon thresholds, a finding received with cautious relief by the fishing cooperatives of the Cordoba littoral. A second round, drawn this morning at greater depth, is expected before the weekend.

The Department of Environment reiterated its request that trawling remain voluntarily suspended until the second reading is in hand. The cooperative of Port de Cala Rossa, which had lost a full tide to the amber alert earlier in the week, indicated its members would comply.

'The sea is patient,' said one veteran fisherman at the quay, declining to be further named, 'and so must we be.'