Laurence Dollimore
THE city council of Marbella has come under fire for dumping 600,000 cubic metres of an orange-tinted sand on its beaches.
The plan, which officially ended on July 8, has seen the ‘reddish, clay-like substance’ scattered across the coast, including along the beaches of San Pedro de Alcantara, La Fontanilla and La Venus-Bajadilla.
The operation was carried out to shore up the beaches following powerful storms earlier in the year.
But some locals are fuming over the product used, claiming it stains clothes and is more difficult to wash off the skin.
In videos shared on X at the weekend, a local journalist showed how the sand could be seen clouding up the water in the waves that were hitting the shore.
Local councillor Diego Lopez previously told Area Costa del Sol: “Although at first (the sand) is reddish, with the passage of time and the washing of sea water, it will become lighter.
“It is more striking because we are not used to seeing that reddish stain on the beach.”
However the sand was dumped on San Pedro beach many weeks ago and is still visibly orange as of yesterday, as pictures taken by the Olive Press show.
Such was the outrage in San Pedro that in mid-June, some 300 people took the streets in the centre of the town to protest.
Days before, the San Pedro Small and Medium Enterprise Association expressed its ‘concern’ about the material used and the impact it may have on tourism.
