Annobón 1988. Slow Disaster, Colonialism, and the Franco Dictatorship

Abstract

In 1988 plans to dump “toxic waste from Europe” on the island of Annobón were uncovered. This article analyzes the “slow disaster” these plans set into motion, revealing the ways in which it was made possible by the ongoing legacies of Francoist and other colonialisms. It explains how the Annobonese population was put at risk by the scheme and connects it to the 1966 nuclear incident of Palomares. Moreover, it demonstrates how the racist othering of Africa(ns)—which was a presupposition of the plan—was reproduced in some accounts of it published in Spanish and German print media.