Residents of two Costa del Sol villages resume fight to get back their beaches

The residents of Mezquitilla and Lagos (Vélez-Málaga) have decided to resume their fight to recover the two villages' beaches which disappeared with the construction of the fishing harbour in neighbouring Caleta de Vélez at the end of the 1970s.

The residents have formed an association to draw up a technical plan which they will present to the competent public administrations. The move comes after the 'brick-beach' project, which planned to restore the beaches with recycled construction rubble, was shelved.

The residents’ association met on the 18 August, during which a video was shown featuring historical photographs that demonstrated the evolution of the eastern part of Vélez-Málaga’s coastline."What is going to be proposed by these two localities is going to be a new transforming experience of sustainable and quality development", explained the president of the Mezquitilla and Lagos Beaches Association, Juan Ramón Ibargüengoitia.

A committee was formed for the Recovery Plan for Lagos and Mezquitilla, chaired by Manuel Escudero, PhD in Economics and Spanish ambassador to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).

"The document is based on the undeniable reality that Lagos and Mezquitilla are two unfinished and neglected residential areas, which nevertheless deserve a very prominent place in the Axarquía. A priority objective of the plan is the recovery of the historic beach, the only one mentioned in El Quijote", argued Ibargüengoitia, referring to a reference in Miguel de Cervante’s famous novel, Don Quijote.

According to Ibargüengoitia, the draft recovery plan will be presented and submitted to the association for consultation within two months. Subsequently it will be presented to Vélez-Málaga town hall "in order to discuss and agree on a joint line of collaboration and recovery of these two villages, which could become an example of sustainable development and quality in the region," he explained.

At the meeting the association also agreed to "continue and complete the work initiated by the president of the association in the creation of the platform of associations of ‘abandoned’ Vélez-Málaga, which was formed in April this year, "to cement the pillars of a development plan for the Axarquía", concluded Ibargüengoitia.