Storm washes away sand from Marbella beaches and causes 450,000 euros of damage

The recent heavy rain, accompanied by strong gusts of wind and intense waves, has caused 450,000 euros worth of damage to the Marbella’s beaches less than a month before Easter Week, which is generally considered as the first week of the holiday season along the Costa del Sol.

The beaches to suffer most damage were Casablanca, La Fontanilla, El Faro and La Venus; and to a lesser extent those of San Pedro Alcántara and Nueva Andalucía.

On Casablanca beach the sea reached the doors of its beach bars, exposing the sewage pipes, the foundations of some buildings and the roots of palm trees. The situation has forced 45 metres of the promenade to be closed as a preventive measure, where the waves were beating against the base of the wall yesterday.

Some 9,956 cubic metres of sand will have to be replaced and repairs to the breakwater wall which is attached to the Marbellamar promenade will be needed, explained Marbella’s councillor for public works, Diego López.

The water entered the kitchen and engulfed the terrace of the Trocadero beach bar and employees were working on Monday to remove the mud and clean up.

There has also been "significant damage" to beach installations including showers and footbaths and to more than 7,000 metres of electrical conduits will need to be repaired "to restore safety to the lighting," said López, who also commented that "There is damage to entire sections of electrical systems in areas which are difficult to access" in the area between the Don Pepe hotel and the Marbella Club.

López said, "The bad weather has caused damage and loss of sand on the coast." But went on to say that the town hall is already working “as a matter of urgency to remedy the situation and leave the beaches in perfect condition before Easter".

He expressed his concern about how the transport workers' strike will affect these repairs, which he described as an "added difficulty". López urged the central government to "commit itself once and for all to the town and provide a definitive solution to the beaches of Marbella and San Pedro Alcántara" because "we have a lot at stake and we cannot continue to fear that a storm will carry away the sand from one day to the next and leave our coastline completely bare".