James Warren
THE long-awaited Brick Beach project in Velez-Malaga has hit a fresh hurdle as ecologists present their opposition.
The project is already three years behind schedule due to a long and complicated administrative process, along with this year’s COVID-19 pandemic.
The Brick Beach project aims to construct a building rubble recycling plant in nearby Torre del Mar, with the processed rubble being used to regenerate the disappearing beaches of Mezquitilla.
The plan was to have the plant up and running by summer 2021, however massive legal issues have left deadlines looking unrealistic.
The Axarquia Nature Studies Cabinet (GENA-Ecologistas en Accion) presented their public concerns yesterday against the project to the Ministry of Agriculture.
In the document, GENA makes the case that the once the plant is constructed, the impact to air quality and wildlife will far outweigh the benefits of rebuilding the beach areas of Velez.
Spokesman for GENA, Rafael Yus told Spanish media that there are seven points of concern, the most important being that the categorisation of the plant should not be recycling but revaluation.
In what appears to be a case of linguistics, GENA’s first point argues that the true meaning of recycling would be that the processed rubble would be used again in the construction industry, rather than being used for the Brick Beach project, thus voiding the verbiage of the proposal.
Their second claim is that the focus of the project, The Playa Morro de Mezquitilla, is a 100-metre stretch of coastline that experiences high erosion due to the force of the sea.
Due to the high erosion, the proposed construction would only last ‘a single season’ and would need constant maintenance year on year.
Yus also explains that GENA believes that the €5 million of EU funding could be better spent rather than on a stretch of beach that receives next to no tourist activity.
“I believe the project is more political than environmental as it makes no sense,” said Yus.
