Moraira
July 7, 2017
Having heard numerous negative reports on the state of El Portet beach in Moraira, after 8,000 tonnes of sand had been spread on it to improve and cover over the exposed rocks, we went down to see for ourselves.
We had heard tales of children being unable to walk on the sand as it was too coarse for their feet and like glass!
We saw children running around in bare feet with no problems at all, also elderly bathers enjoying themselves with no difficulties at all.
We had also heard of a “cliff face” where you stepped in and out of the sea. No sign of this apart from where the slipway is.
There have been many reports on Facebook on how ghastly and unswimmable El Portet beach is now.
What we actually found was a very pleasant, sandy beach, almost like it used to be.
I am a keen snorkler, so I swam out to the buoys and across the bay to see if I could spot this dangerous “cliff”.
If I was to complain, it would be about the sediment in the water restricting viewing of any fish, although I did see several shoals of fish, but not as many as last year.
But I also noticed that most of the underwater seaweed was choked with sediment and there were large piles of it along the shoreline which had not been cleared away by the council.
Being a retired Chief Engineer for a British Dredging company which specialised in beach reclamation I am not sure that using sand from a quarry was the best option, although it has temporarily saved El Portet beach from losing its blue flag this year.
I hope that Teulada-Moraira town hall will reconsider their options for next year and return to dredging the sand washed out to sea by the storms instead of bringing it in from a quarry.
We had a meeting last year with Councillor Nieves over our concern for the state of El Portet beach (or lack of it!). We were told that pumping the sand back onto the beach using a suction dredger was detrimental to the environment.
From my own experience in the beach reclamation business I believe that the town hall was possibly misadvised, to the detriment of the environment.
Although holidaymakers were having a wonderful time on El Portet – and of course only time will tell!
Bruce and Betty Banham Inglis
