Puerto de la Cruz will be equipped with an early warning system to prevent marine storms, which consists of a wave control buoy and surveillance cameras that will be located in San Telmo and Martiánezthrough which the behavior of the sea during the winter can be studied.
“The objective is to protect and plan the future of the city with the installation of this storm early warning system, which will measure the growth in sea level caused by the effects of climate change,” he says. David Hernández (ACP), councilor for Sustainable City.
To do this, they are trying to determine the dates on which the Environmental Hydraulics Institute Foundation of Cantabria (Fihac) can carry out the bathymetry of the Portuense coast, something that will happen “as soon as it calibrates its instruments and finds a window in which the state of the sea allows it. During the winters of 2024 and 2025, the current meter and the camera will also be installed to establish early warning in specific areas, in order to “predict changes on the Porto coast and act accordingly to minimize the effects of the rise in water.” sea level,” says the councilor.
David Hernández explains that the data produced by these tools “will determine the actions, hard or soft, necessary to protect the municipality and citizens, in the event of a risk on the local coastline.” To this end, the coasts of Punta Brava and Martiánez with the points where this equipment will be located, although studies carried out by the central government confirm that the entire coastal front could be at risk, except for the area that protects the current dock breakwater. , adds the mayor.
“Determining the risk areas due to rising sea levels and erosion will determine that, in the medium and long term, we can plan the future of Puerto de la Cruz, which for us is key,” says Hernández.
He highlights that the Department of Sustainable City “proposes soft actions that can guide us, once the system is installed.” Among them, he cites “new access protocols to the dock esplanade and other dissuasive measures, both urban planning and the organization of urban and pedestrian traffic, in cases of maritime storms.”
