Almuñécar unveils retractable walkways that enable people with reduced mobility to get to the sea

Councillor for beaches, Lucía González, explained that this was a “long-standing request” from her department, which they had been trying to resolve for several years.

During this time, the town hall has been adapting all accessible points in the town and had managed to install permanent concrete walkways on its main beaches – structures that allow people in wheelchairs or with reduced mobility to reach the beach without having to walk on the sand.

González explained that the problem with the concrete walkways is that they could only extend as far as a certain point on the beach, otherwise they would be at risk on being swept away by storms.

The solution to this problem has come about thanks to a grant scheme from the provincial authority, the Diputación de Granada, channelled through the Mancomunidad association of town halls on the Costa Tropical and designed to enable town halls to improve beach accessibility.

With these funds, amounting to around 6,000 euros, the town hall has been able to purchase several roll-up walkways that remain in place throughout the day, so that anyone can use them at any time. They are made from a durable material, capable of withstanding the beach cleaning tractors and other vehicles that access the beach.

In the evening, the lifeguards will take them down as a precautionary measure to prevent a storm from sweeping them away or damaging them, as they are situated right at the water’s edge and are therefore more exposed to the waves than the fixed concrete walkways.

The new walkways are in place at four of the municipality’s five main lifeguard stations: Puerta del Mar, San Cristóbal, La Herradura and Velilla. The exception is Marina del Este, the only beach that has not yet benefited from this improvement.

As the councillor explains, the reason is that the access to that beach “has a very steep slope, which makes it difficult to install a walkway of this type on that particular stretch”. The town hall has not ruled out reviewing this decision “at a later date” and has said that, if it is found that this adaptation is also necessary at Marina del Este next year, “ways of resolving the issue will be explored”.

In addition, this summer Almuñécar town hall is also launching an assistance service for people with reduced mobility to use the public facilities. The service will be in operation until 31 August at the five Blue Flag beaches.

The town hall has also hired four lifeguards who will stay with people in the sea once they have been helped down in the amphibious chair and will work exclusively to provide this service throughout the summer.

The lifegaurds will stay in the water with the person for 30 minutes, although the town hall's beaches department has said that if there are no other people waiting to use the facility at that time, anyone currently enjoying a swim may extend their time in the water without any problem.

The four lifeguards will not be stationed at a fixed point along the coast, but will rotate between the five main lifeguard posts depending on the needs identified. The assisted bathing service requires prior booking, and the town hall is in the process of setting up contact numbers so that those interested can book an appointment in advance.