The work to quintuple the size of the Baños del Carmen beach will begin after Holy Week.

The contracts have just been finalized, both the main and auxiliary ones. There were some doubts about whether the start of construction would be postponed to autumn, according to the bathing season. However, the Coastal Authority has decided to begin the expansion of Baños del Carmen beach after Easter, which also includes protecting the seafront from the sea's onslaughts. It is a long-awaited project that initiates a plan that should be more ambitious in future stages, with the creation of a park and the rehabilitation of the spa and its surroundings.

The new Baños del Carmen Beach

Current shoreline

Baños del Carmen

First phase

Construction of a 193-meter breakwater

New shoreline

Second phase

Sand contribution:

73,837 m3

Morlaco (exercise park)

Dry beach

Submerged beach

Average beach width

Current

10 m

Planned expansion

27 m

37 m

Source: General Directorate of the Coast and the Sea

E. HINOJOSA

The alliance between Adiante Infraestructuras and Construcciones Maygar will be responsible for carrying out the work for an amount of nearly five million euros (including VAT) and a timeframe of nine months. The technical assistance and project management will be provided by Geser Ingenieros Consultores for just under 200,000 euros. The timeframe set for the beach expansion and its defense is nine months, so it is expected to be ready by the end of next winter.

12,700 square meters

The specifications that served as the basis for this awaited tender indicated that the beach area would be multiplied by five, from the current 2,700 square meters to 12,700. The project foresees a dumping of 73,837 cubic meters of material, with which the beach will reach an average width of up to 37 meters (27 more than the current one).

The project will create a large beach over the small current cove next to the spa. The scope of work will extend from the tip of El Morlaco to the restaurant esplanade. Initially, a 193-meter breakwater will be constructed from El Morlaco, with an initial emerged section and another oblique submerged section, from north to south, forming a kind of open V. The platform will be prepared for colonization by marine species.

Sand replenishment

In a second phase, a sand replenishment will be carried out on the beach with a volume of about 73,837 cubic meters. In this phase, it is emphasized that this material should not affect or touch the rocky area surrounding the spa esplanade. Thus, the beach will reach an average width of up to 37 meters, 27 more than the current one. The material will be extracted from the Jévar stream (30,000 m3) and Totalán (45,000).

Another key aspect of the initiative is the construction of a new access ramp to the beach from the platform at the tip of Morlaco, through a staircase with a rustic finish made of rockery and riprap for better landscape integration. The current main access, which leads to the restaurant, will be adapted for people with reduced mobility.

It is also planned to demolish sections of old pavement and curbs at the access from the tip of El Morlaco. Additionally, work will be done to replace and reprofile existing gaps and fallen blocks in the riprap in front of the current riverbank wall of the pedestrian section between the previous point and Baños del Carmen.

Environmental impact

The proposal has a positive environmental impact statement, in which environmental conditions, including preventive and corrective measures, are established.

In addition, fencing will be ensured in areas where there is natural vegetation of interest, mainly the species Limonium malacitanum, and if necessary, it will be marked to prevent the transit of machinery and material storage areas or any activity that could cause an impact.

Correction

Turbidity barriers must be operational throughout the project execution process, regardless of the levels of suspended solids, especially those placed around specimens of protected species, under the supervision of specialist personnel, to ensure that no adverse effects occur due to the screen rubbing against the rock.

The report focuses particularly on the limpet Patella ferruginea, which is a protected species, and for which measures will be taken to prevent "shellfishing or any type of occasional collection, neither from land nor from the sea." As well as on the Limonium, an endemic and protected plant species.

In addition, competent authorities will be notified in case the fortuitous presence of specimens of endangered or specially protected fauna species, such as the date mussel (Lithophaga litophaga), or remains or evidence (nests, offspring or eggs), in a situation that could be affected. There will also be special archaeological protection.