A court ruled Wednesday that the Spanish state be paid 1.6 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in damages over the 2002 Prestige oil spill, one of Europe's worst environmental disasters.

The court in the northwestern Spanish city of A Coruna also said the regional government of Galicia, off whose coast the Prestige tanker broke in two, be compensated 1.8 million euros and neighbouring France, which was also affected, 61 million euros.