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Date Published: 19/09/2023

Aguilas holds beach cleaning on Playa de El Rafal for World Cleanup Day

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Volunteers clean the beach of El Rafal on the occasion of the World Cleanup Day

This Saturday just gone, September 16, the Councillors for the Environment and Cleaning in the Murcia town of Águilas, Elena Casado and Noelia Ruano, joined the International Coastal Cleanup Day – along with hundreds of thousands of volunteers across more than 100 countries and territories around the world – with a cleanup event on the Playa de El Rafal beach in the municipality.

This beach cleaning activity, which was organised by the European Environment Association, was also attended by the Asociación Vecinal Calabardina Activa, an active neighbourhood association that works to improve the area of Calabardina.

The Playa de El Rafal in Águilas is one of a long series of unspoilt and picturesque beaches and coves which lie on the eastern coast of the municipality of Águilas, just between the headland of Cabo Cope in the south and the Playa de la Galera, which marks the boundary with Lorca a few kilometres further north.

It is a wild, natural beach which doesn’t have easy access or parking, nor are there serviced facilities like bars and shops, but it is still frequented by beachgoers and bathers, who unfortunately sometimes leave their litter there. Other times, the litter washes up on the beach from the sea.

In fact, the Playa de El Rafal was designated as an official nudist beach of Águilas in 2016 by the Spanish Naturism Federation, but the participants at the World Cleanup Day beach cleaning event this weekend were all fully clothed.

World Cleanup Day is a global programme aimed at combating the worldwide problem of solid waste on beaches. This initiative is held annually every third Saturday in September. The day serves to raise awareness of the growing problem of increasing levels of pollution on beaches around the world.

Cleaning up beach litter is not the only objective; another important element of International Beach Cleanup Day is the documentation and study of the type of litter collected, its possible sources and the expected impact it could have on the ocean and marine areas.

“The aim is to raise awareness of the waste that ends up on our beaches. For this reason, we recorded each class [of litter] in tables. It is essential that we all internalise the importance of respecting our environment, to prevent rubbish from ending up on the coast,” explained Águilas Councillor Elena Casado.