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María Albarral
Wednesday, 4 September 2024, 11:52
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The growing problem of seaweed on Marbella's beaches has led the association of beach, port and nautical activities establishments of Marbella, known as the Costa del Sol Comité de Playas, to action. The association has started a petition to demand that the authorities do something about it.
"There is less and less sand and more and more seaweed. We live from tourism and this can lead visitors to go to other destinations. We have to find solutions quickly before it's too late," the president of the association, Sergio Gutiérrez, has told SUR.
The general concern is based on the tourist image that the presence of this invasive plant leaves as well as the lack of sand which has been washed away during storms.
The association is planning to take its petition to the central government. "In October we will go to Madrid to deliver the petition and if necessary we will rally to demand that the necessary measures are put in place," Gutiérrez added.
Documents have also been translated into English so that the message can reach the foreign population. "This is everyone's business. What's more, not just for the people who live in Marbella and San Pedro Alcántara but for all those who come here regularly or who spend their holidays here. We want decent beaches," said Gutiérrez.
Seaweed
Since Rugulopteryx okamurae algae began to "invade" the Costa del Sol a few years ago, the authorities are having serious problems getting rid of it. In the case of Marbella, the town hall invests around 150,000 euros a month to clean its coastline and remove around 75 tonnes of seaweed per day.
Now Marbella town hall has demanded solutions from the central government to stop this situation. During a council meeting in July the town hall decided that "as a matter of urgency", the necessary funds to cover the costs generated by the daily removal of the invasive seaweed should "be included in the general state budget law for the year 2025".
Although the cleaning of the coastline is a municipal responsibility, the town hall has argued on several occasions that "the Rugulopteryx okamurae was included at the end of 2020 in the Spanish catalogue of invasive alien species, and, based on this law, the central government "has a strategy for its eradication and containment". As such they are demanding solutions. "Most of us live from tourism and the algae makes our beaches dirty and it gives off a bad smell and a bad image. We have to find a solution," Gutiérrez said.
The town hall has recently reinforced the cleaning of the municipality's beaches with the acquisition of a towed raking machine, specifically for the removal of invasive algae from the coastline, which will allow the collection work to be carried out without removing a large quantity of sand.
Beach stabilisation
Regarding the situation of the coastline and the problems of lack of sand, the central government has recently announced an investment of 16 million euros to start the stabilisation of the beaches in Marbella and San Pedro Alcántara.
The project proposed by the central government for Marbella's coastline is divided into two actions. Firstly, coastal regeneration between Venus beach and El Ancón point, the aim of which is the regeneration and stabilisation of the central beaches through the contribution of some 200,000 cubic metres of sand and stabilisation by means of the construction of two free-standing breakwaters of around 200 metres in length between the marina and El Ancón point, projected some 145 metres from the coast.
The area from the west of the fishing port to the marina will only consist of sand and re-profiling of the current beaches, without demolishing existing breakwaters according to information consulted by SUR. The tender budget amounts to 8.5 million euros and has a completion period of eight months.
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