Cristina Hodgson
THE Junta has presented its ‘Beach Safety Plan’, an initiative that will see an investment of more than €34 million.
Launched this Monday by Junta spokesperson Elias Bendodo, it aims to ensure the safety of domestic and international tourists.
Of the €34.5 million invested in the plan, €10.5 million has been allocated to strengthen security, cleanliness and infrastructure.
The remaining €24 million has been designated to hire 3,000 beach surveillance officers, from some 84,000 people who applied for the position.
The purchases to be made and distributed among the 61 coastal municipalities include: 75 pickup vehicles, 21 buggies, 81 quads, 65 surveillance towers, 13 boats, 14 jet skis, 15,242 gangways, 285 rescue tubes, 127 rescue cans and 154 life rings.
With this investment Andalucia claims it will have the 300 ‘safest’ beaches in Spain.
The beach monitoring plan comes as a Costa del Sol beach was named as the second-best of its kind in Europe by an EU-backed study this week.
Despite safety initiatives, the Andalucian vice-president, Juan Marin, has said this Monday that the Spanish government has taken a ‘wrong decision’ by bringing forward by 14 days the opening of its borders to promote international tourism.
Although he added that ‘Andalucia is prepared to assume any kind of situation in the health field.’
