PROPERTY SEARCH

Date Published: 12/05/2022

ARCHIVED - No jellyfish nets on Los Alcazares beaches this summer

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

Los Alcázares will stop putting anti-jellyfish nets in the Mar Menor after it has been proved to lead to more algae and mud

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - No jellyfish nets on Los Alcazares beaches this summer

The Town Hall of Los Alcázares has decided not to request that the General Direction of the Mar Menor place anti-jellyfish nets in the water this summer as it has in previous years.

Jellyfish nets are normally placed in the water of the Mar Menor off the Los Alcázares coast to prevent the animals washing into the bathing area and up onto the beaches, but now the Town Council has made a U-turn in its summer policy.

The decision comes after a warning by experts that the jellyfish nets can cause a “dyke effect” by blocking the flow of water and impeding circulation, facilitating the growth of algae and the appearance of mud.

According to municipal sources in a press release, the council has taken this decision after the meeting of technicians of the Interadministrative Forum of the Mar Menor held last week.

“As stated by members of the Scientific Committee, experts and various social platforms in defence of the Mar Menor, the current function of these nets is solely aesthetic and they cause a dyke effect in the Mar Menor by slowing the currents that improve the quality of the beaches and, therefore, generate a serious problem of mud in the lagoon,” explained the Councillor for the Environment of Los Alcázares, Antonio López Campoy.

López Campoy added that “what is necessary is the marking of the bathing area, in order to guarantee the safety of all bathers”.

For his part, the Mayor of Los Alcázares, Mario Pérez Cervera, has declared that “the funds that the Autonomous Community destines for the installation of these anti-jellyfish nets that damage the lagoon should be put towards to other more urgent and necessary purposes for the protection of the Mar Menor, such as the incorporation of more crews for the removal of biomass, due to the appearance on the beaches of great accumulation of sludge.”

Image: Archive