The City Council of Mijas has invested 80,000 euros in the removal of algae during the months of June and July to leave the Mijas coastline in perfect condition for bathing, for which has collected in this period more than 300 tons of this marine vegetation, as announced this Thursday by the Beaches Councilor, José Carlos Martín.
The mayor has stressed that “our beaches are one of the most recurrent tourist attractions in this season after the pandemic “, which is why he pointed out that the City Council of Mijas faces”the adversity of the arrival of invasive plant species with a ‘crash plan’ against this plant “, he has detailed. In addition, he has added regarding this system of action that” makes us, on the one hand, eliminate the algae every day to leave the sea clean and, on the other, prevent the arrival of more specimens ” .
Regarding the first line of the ‘crash plan’, it should be noted that there have already been removed in these first two months of summer more than 3,000 tons of algae. Tractors start at 02:00 hours and the rest machinery and trucks at 05:00 hours daily to be able to achieve the goal of leaving the Mijas coast untouched. “The remains that we collect go to the recycling plant and its use in the composting process for use as biofertilizer is being investigated together with the Andalusian Agricultural and Fisheries Training Institute (IFAPA),” explained Martín.
Regarding the second aspect of the ‘shock plan’ aimed at prevention and the fight in conjunction with other entities and administrations, Mijas is attached to the ‘Invasive Alga Forum’ with the aim of protecting the natural and indigenous marine heritage. The Blue Institute of Biotechnology and Development-IBYDA of the University of Malaga, the Campus of International Global Excellence of the Sea, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, the Marine-Maritime Cluster of Andalusia, the Chair of Littoral Sciences of the University of Malaga and the Equilibrio Marino association constitutes the ‘Invasive Alga Forum’ to confront the biological invasion of the brown algae of Asian origin Rugulopteryx okamurae, which seriously threatens the survival of the Mediterranean marine ecosystem.