The delegate of the Andalusian Government in Malaga, Patricia Navarro, has asked in Estepona this Thursday the Central government that has the town halls of the affected municipalities to fix the beacheswhile demanding “a decisive and decisive action” by the Executive of Spain to defend the coast of Malaga.
An intervention, which, according to Patricia Navarro, “is already needed, regardless of whether the mayors of the municipalities do their bit to clean up our beaches in the face of the imminent opening of the tourist season at Easter.
This is how Navarro stated during the visit he made with the mayor of the Estepona City Council, José María García Urbano, to the Saladillo beach “one of the areas of the Malaga coast in which the last maritime storm has caused the most damage”.
The Government delegate, after verifying “the such a brutal deterioration that we are witnessing on our coastline”, with broken pipes, open manholes and tons of sand that are missing to be able to return to the original situation, has assessed that “this storm has been a turning point”.
In this sense, he clarified that “for the first time the mayors are willing to step forward and collaborate”, cooperate in a coordinated manner with the Ministry of Ecological Transition in these works, and even co-finance them, since it has explained that “despite the fact that they are not a competence of the municipalitiesthe coastal municipalities know that part of their local economy is involved in it”.
For this reason, Navarro has demanded that the Government of Spain “give an imminent response and without exception” to city councils and businessmen, declaring emergency the restoration works of the entire coast of Malaga affected by this storm, “from Manilva to Nerja, if we want our beaches to look in perfect magazine condition before Easter”.
In addition, the Government delegate has stressed that it is necessary to final approval of a beach stabilization plan of the entire province of Malaga and has abounded in that “it is a question that all the mayors have been suing for years together with the institutions and political parties to the Government of Spain and that this last storm has put in solfa”.
In this regard, it has clarified that this coastal stabilization plan has to offer definitive solutions and be developed in coordination with local councils affected, “a solution for the future that eliminates uncertainty in the face of every inclement weather for the councils and businessmen on the coast, who are forced to make large financial outlays, as well as for the people of Malaga who want to enjoy their coastline”.
Navarro has assured that the Junta de Andalucía “will be together with these consistories to collaborate in whatever is necessary and that the effects of the storm are not an inconvenience for the tourism sector”. Torremolinos, Fuengirola, Marbella, Torrox and Torre del Mar in Vélez Málaga have seen their beaches devastated; In Malaga capital, the maritime steps had to be closed at the beginning of the week and a large number of beach bars have suffered damage.
Supply and sanitation infrastructures have also been affected, such as the drinking water pipe that runs along the coast of VélezMálaga, near the Valle Niza campsite, or the one in comprehensive sanitation of the Costa del Solwhich has been completely discovered on the beach of Casablanca, in Marbella.
To a greater or lesser extent, all beaches from Nerja to Manilva have suffered sand loss, furnishings and damage in establishments.