More than 12 tonnes of invasive Asian seaweed washed up on Benalmádena's beaches in a single night

Benalmádena suffered one of the largest arrivals of invasive Asian seaweed in its history on Tuesday morning. Specifically, it affected the beaches of Los Melilleros, Santa Ana and the beach of Arroyo de la Miel, while the municipality is at maximum levels of holidaymaker occupation. The three beaches affected are regularly frequented by tourists, as all of them are surrounded by hotel facilities.

This situation meant that the town hall's beaches department had to sent out its algae cleaning machinery and workers in the middle of the night to try to clean the affected areas as much as possible before the influx of bathers began. The work lasted until after 10.30am, with the support of the beach security personnel and lifeguards to ensure that there were no incidents with users in the early hours of the morning due to the presence of the cleaning machinery.

In its first calculation, the council estimated that around twelve tonnes of algae may have to be removed, as the work will continue when the beach is empty of people again, as everything suggests that the algae in the water will be washed up on the sand as the hours go by and the currents and waves change.

It should be remembered that invasive Asian seaweed is not dangerous for people and that bathing is completely safe with its presence, although it is true that in large quantities, such as the one that has arrived now, it can become annoying. It is different for the richness of the seabed, as it has been demonstrated that this invasive species damages other very valuable plant species such as posidonia.

Just before the start of the summer season, Benalmádena openly acknowledged that the Asian seaweed has gone from having a "sporadic" presence on the beaches of the municipality during the years 2020 and 2021, to progressively increasing as the months progressed, to the point of currently having "an almost continuous presence, even after removing about 100 tonnes per month during the first months of the year".

This is a problem and, above all, an economic and technical challenge to keep the beaches in a perfect state of cleanliness and to ensure that the constant arrival of the seaweed does not affect the image of the coast and therefore tourism.

The council said at the time that the beach cleaning work is carried out through an external contract with a fixed annual budget of 660,412.99 euros, which includes beach cleaning, cleaning of toilets and lifeguard facilities, cleaning and maintenance of the promenade and painting and maintenance of railings and balustrades.

In addition to this budget, there is a variable annual budget of around 60,000 euros for extraordinary works, but due to the evolution of the presence of this algae, which is becoming more and more continuous, the department of beaches foresaw a cost increase of 200,000 euros, which in the end will be more than necessary.