ARCHIVED - Costas department begins gota fría storm repairs at the beaches of the Costa Cálida

A 3.5-million-euro budget as work begins at the beaches of the Mar Menor

The Spanish government’s Department of Costas has begun the first phase of its 3.5-million-euro operation to repair damage done by September´s destructive gota fría storm to the beaches and infrastructures along the coasts of the Region of Murcia, with a timescale of 5 months established so that the Costa Cálida can be fully prepared in good time for Semana Santa and the start of the summer of 2020.

The municipalities included in the first phase of the Costas Project are those of Cartagena, Los Alcázares, San Javier and San Pedro del Pinatar, which between them share the coastline of the Mar Menor – it was here that the worst of the flooding in mid-September occurred, and Teresa Ribera, the Minister for Ecological Transition, announced the repair project during her visit to the area on 16^th October.

As well as the beaches themselves, the infrastructures covered by the remit of Costas include seafront walks, wooden walkways and installations in the public domain right along the coastline.

The first phase of work includes the following repair and restoration actions:

In San Pedro del Pinatar: the cleaning and restoration of the beaches of Torre Derribada, La Llana and El Mojón, restoration of the seafront promenade in El Mojón, repairs to the paths and walkways on the dunes behind the beach of Torre Derribada and the relaying of surfaces to allow beach cleaning equipment to access the beach of El Mojón.

In San Javier: repairs to the seafront promenade, walls and access to the beach of Playa Castillicos, restoration of the Paseo Atalayón and the laying of new paving in parts of the Paseo Marítimo of Santiago de la Ribera.

In Los Alcázares: cleaning of all of the beaches, cleaning and repairs of infrastructures including the promenade, walls and accesses to the beach and the replacement of damaged paving, especially in the area of the Plaza de la Pescadería.

In Cartagena: beach cleaning, repairs to the seafront walk in Punta Brava and Los Urrutias, cleaning and repairs of the beach-front infrastructures in Los Nietos, especially in the area of Calle Isla Grosa, the replacement of accesses to the beach of Playa Honda and at Camping Caravaning, cleaning and repairs on the seafront in Playa Paraíso and repairs to the steps leading down to Cala Botella in Cabo de Palos.

The second phase of work is scheduled to include the restoration of the beaches themselves, not only in Cartagena, Los Alcázares, San Javier and San Pedro del Pinatar but also in the municipalities of Águilas, Lorca and Mazarrón: one of the jobs to be completed in the first phase is a detailed assessment of what work is needed at each beach.

Follow Murcia Today on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest news, events and information in the Region of Murcia and the rest of Spain: https://www.facebook.com/MurciaToday/