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Eugenio Cabezas
Tuesday, 25 February 2025, 20:00
The River Vélez delta, which creates a natural border between Torre del Mar and the village of Almayate on the eastern Costa del Sol, has been important for humans for many centuries. It is also a haven for wildlife and in particular birds. Now the Axarquía-based environmental group, the Gabinete de Estudios de la Naturaleza, has published a book on the area.
The Río Vélez delta is one of the most valuable natural environments in the Axarquía and its importance and now history has been revealed in De Estuario a Delta y del Delta a Estuario, (from estuary to delta and from delta to estuary). The 558-page book with colour illustrations details all the available knowledge on the ‘geology, morphogenesis and fluvial-marine regression of an anthropogenic delta’, as the work is subtitled.
The new book will be presented on Thursday 27 February at 7.30pm at the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo (CAC) Francisco Hernández in Vélez-Málaga. The event is being organised by the town's Friends of Culture society (SAC), which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
According to the authors, until the 15th century there was a navigable estuary that reached the point where the Río Vélez meets the Guaro and Benamargosa rivers further north. After the Reconquista vast extensions of the area started to be cultivated which involved dragging large quantities of earth towards the estuary. This led to the burial of the old Los Toscanos Phoenician port and the creation of the delta that we know today. For this reason, the authors claim that the area is not a natural, but an anthropogenic, or man-made, delta.
The delta continued to grow until the mid-20th century, but with the decrease in agricultural activity and after the construction of La Viñuela reservoir, the delta started to feel the effects of coastal erosion caused by the sea. Now the area is considered to have a serious erosion problem, meaning that a reverse process, as suggested in the book's title, ‘from delta to estuary’, i.e. the disappearance of the delta, has begun.
The book consists of nine chapters on the evolution and historical context of the Vélez river, the geological framework of the delta and its surroundings, including the Almayate rock, the geological structure of the delta, a study of the historical regression of the delta and estimates of regression. The book ends with a chapter on threats, protection and management of the delta. It includes numerous contributions made by scientists and architects to protect and manage this natural space and its important biodiversity.
The presentation of this book will be followed by a guided tour of the River Vélez delta, which will take place on Saturday 1 March at 10am, led by the biolgist Rafael Yus, president of GENA-Ecologists in Action in the Axarquía.
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