The Ayuntamiento de Los Alcázares has announced that several of the beaches in the municipality will now re-open following a meeting of all the competent bodies involved in the running, maintenance and vigilance of beaches within the municipality.

 

The beaches of Espejo, Carril de Las Palmeras and Los Narejos are ready to re-open following the paralysis of repair works by the Covid crisis, but the beaches of playas Manzanares, Carrión and La Concha remain closed to bathers until such point as safe bathing can be guaranteed.

 

Click here to see a full list of Los Alcázares beaches together with maps(select Los Alcázares from locations)

 

Opening of its beaches has been considerably more complicated for Los Alcázares than in some other coastal areas due principally to the scale of damage caused by not just the September 2019 Gota Fría, but subsequent heavy episodes of rain which have also caused flooding in the municipality and damaged the infrastructure of the beaches.

 

Paseos, walkways, walls, street furniture etc were all badly damaged, sand was swept away and off into the Mar Menor and millions of litres of muddy water flowed through the streets, ramblas and public areas, all contributing to the algal problem which is now creating further complications for the municipality.

 

Since September last year work has been underway to repair the damage, working in collaboration with the many bodies which have responsibility for various aspects of the Mar Menor, and surrounding infrastructure, but the Covid crisis caused a paralysis of the process.

 

The town hall maintains that its priority is ensuring that beaches are back to a high standard when they open and ensuring that bathers can enjoy a safe and positive experience, for which reason it is important to take time and effectively do a proper job.

 

"Intense work is being carried out to recover the beaches after the break caused by COVID-19, and our priority is the health of users, so beaches will be opened as safe bathing can be guaranteed ”, said Díaz Aragón, the councillor with responsibility for beaches. He also added that "we are working to offer the best image of our municipality by carrying out different maintenance tasks such as algae removal, cleaning and grooming of sand, street lamp painting and replacement of beach furniture such as benches and litter bins, all lost during the Gota Fría”.

 

Other measures agreed upon during the meeting are the various beach maintenance tasks that need to be carried out on a daily basis, the communication of prevention measures against COVID 19 through posters and public address systems, the increase in the workforce of Civil Protection auxiliaries, implementation of a beach gauging control system using the 112 mobile application and the immersion of volunteer divers to inspect the seabed and remove any remaining waste, scheduled for this Friday on some of the affected beaches that remain closed.