Costas unlocks 17 years later the improvement of a beach in Puerto de la Cruz

This initiative foresees a total investment of 10.8 million euros and it has an execution period of 20 months, which must be used to build a defense dam of about 100 meters in the area closest to the Martiánez hillside and, then, a submerged dam of almost 112 meters in length. To cover the large number of stones that currently make it difficult to enjoy this beach in Porto, the technicians propose the contribution of about 132,500 cubic meters of black sand from crushing. A huge quantity of aggregates that is equivalent to the capacity of 22,000 concrete mixer trucks.

This work will require the creation of provisional facilities near Las Arenas, in a free space located between the Lidl and Hiperdino hypermarkets, about 7 kilometers from the work and next to the TF-5 motorway. In this area, the concrete blocks necessary for the construction of the breakwater will be executed. and, if surplus stones are obtained, the materials will be crushed there to obtain the sand necessary for regeneration.

The set of works includes the work necessary to solve the continuous loss of sand from the Martiánez beach and the recharge of sand, and the actions indicated to “correct the problems regarding the channeling of rainwater that periodically cause problems of overflows in the sewage pumping station located in the beach area”. There were two projects that operated in the environment of martianez beach for their improvement, but they did not finish advancing until Costas considered it convenient to “execute them jointly, unifying them in a single action”, which is now on public display.

To resolve the loss of sand, this project contemplates the construction of a new defense breakwater at the southwestern end of the beach, where the eastern highway tunnel is located, made up of “a core of basalt breakwater of blocks of 1, 5 tons on which a double layer of 15-ton concrete cubic blocks will be arranged. The breakwater will consist of a 4-ton block breakwater.. The construction of an access to the beach adapted for people with reduced mobility is also contemplated, consisting of a ramp covered by a wooden pavement.

In the new environmental impact report, after the initial one expired in 2020, it is noted that “the current state of Martiánez beach is the result of the action carried out in the 90s by the General Directorate of Ports and Coasts of the Ministry of Public Works and Urbanism, in which the demolition of a pre-existing breakwater was carried out, the current breakwater was built and a contribution of sand was made for the regeneration and expansion of the beach. However, as of this action, the beach has been losing sand continuously, which has meant that pebbles and stones are left exposed, which makes it extremely difficult to enjoy it for the use of sun and beach typical of these environments. , especially with regard to access to bathing areas, with which in its current conditions it offers an improper service of this area for residents and visitors.

This situation justifies, according to the aforementioned report, “the intended action of proceeding with the regeneration of the beach, with the aim of recovering this coastal space for its use and enjoyment by residents of the residential area and tourists.” In addition, there is a problem of occasional discharges, due to the fact that the sanitation network of Cross port It has a pumping station in the upper part of martianez beach, which receives the flow of sewage from the entire area. The environmental impact report states that “the only relief system for water from the rains is in the pumping station itself, which causes periodic overflows to occur when the intensity of the rains exceeds the pumping capacity of the station and the existing drainage well next to the beach itself, and end up spilling directly onto the beachwith the consequent detriment to the sanitary state of the sand and the quality of the wateras well as for his image.

The consolidated project proposes, for the sanitation and rainwater networks, “the construction of two spillways prior to the entrance to the current pumping station, and the discharge of this relieved water into the sea in an area far from the beach, behind the current protection breakwater, in front of the lake martianez». An action whose cost is estimated in the global budget in about 800,000 euros.

This last step taken by Costas represents a definitive step forward after more than 17 years of procedures and waiting, which actually began a year earlier, in 2005, with the commission from Europrincipia Consultores Asociados for the first sand recharge project. Almost six years passed until on October 4, 2011, the Secretary of State for Climate Change formulated the declaration of favorable environmental impact for alternative F of the beach recharge project, which is the same one that is included in the final consolidated project that now sees the light.

From October 2011, we had to wait almost five more years until in February 2016, the consulting company Trazas Ingeniería drafted the project for the execution of spillways and drainage network in the Martiánez area for the Puerto de la Cruz City Council. One year later, the General Directorate of Maritime-Terrestrial Public Domain of the Ministry of the Environment granted the Porto City Council the concession to occupy some 520 square meters of maritime-terrestrial public domain destined for a new sea discharge collector as a spillway for the Martiánez pumping station. Also in 2017, the Government of the Canary Islands authorized the discharge of pre-treated urban wastewater and rainwater from the new drainage network through a drainage pipe located at the northern end of the current beach protection breakwater. four years later, On December 1, 2021, the General Directorate of Coasts commissioned the consulting company GIUR with the consolidated project which, 13 months later, is put on public display.