Date Published: 25/05/2020
ARCHIVED - Los Alcázares unable to open its beaches for bathing from Monday
ARCHIVED ARTICLE The council hopes to habilitate two bathing areas later in the week
Image: Sand laying continues in Los Alcázares as the municipality prepares to re-open
Murcia is fortunate to possess 274 kilometres of coastline, with over 200 beaches, bays, coves and stretches of unspoilt wild coastline, and from Monday phase 2 of the de-escalation process permits bathers and sun-worshippers to once again return to the coast.
However, the uncertainty which has surrounded the whole topic of beaches during the last two weeks in the lead-up to phase two has caused significant problems for coastal town halls in the Murcia region (and the rest of Spain) due to the lack of clear instruction from the national government about the conditions under which the beaches can be opened.
This summer security is the top priority for the Ministry of Health and until Saturday there had been no concrete instructions from the Government for local councils about how they would be expected to run their beaches as we move into phase 2.
This has naturally caused problems for some, particularly in the Mar Menor area where three episodes of flooding during the last few months have left beaches stripped of sand, damaged marine paseos and infrastructural problems in many areas around the lagoon.
The complicated structure of who is responsible for what in regards to beach and infrastructure maintenance ( some areas are the responsibility of the local councils, other of the “costas” department, the national Government coastal department, some of the CHS which controls the water infrastructure, and yet others of the regional government) also causes problems and this is the case in Los Alcázares, which has this morning announced that it will NOT be opening its beaches to bathers at the moment due to maintenance and repair works on the beach infrastructure of the municipality.
Los Alcázares has 5 kilometres of beautiful beaches, but all have artificial sand and much of the infrastructure was damaged by the storms.
The council says the five kilometers of coastline within the Los Alcázares municipality will remain closed for bathing for the first part of the week, as the “costas” department of the national government is finalizing the sand replacement project and concluding works to repair disability access points. Work is also underway this week to repair damaged paseos and access points to the beaches.
The Mayor of Los Alcázares says that the costas department has promised to speed up the works as far as possible and the council will try to open two designated bathing beach areas by the weekend.
Los Alcázares plans to initially open two areas for bathing; one in Los Narejos and the other in the El Espejo beach, with seven beach personnel ensuring that safety measures are being complied with.
After June 15th further positions and services will open and on July 1st the normal contingency of lifeguards and Cruz Roja personnel will be in position.
Councils must comply with a raft of safety measures including the provision of cleaning services for footwashes, toilets and changing areas, as well as ensuring that beach users are appropriately spaced four metres apart.