Over the last few summers, there have been repeated problems with the footbaths on Calp's beaches, either due to lack of pressure or because they have not been working at all due to faults in the pumping system. This infrastructure is the responsibility of the Directorate-General for Tourism of the Regional Ministry of Industry, Innovation and Tourism, which in turn has a concession delegated by the Directorate-General for Coasts of the Ministry for Ecological Transition.
Yesterday, the mayor, Ana Sala, and the councillor for beaches, Pere Moll, accompanied by various municipal technicians, met with the Director General of Tourism, Israel Martínez, to discuss the state of the footbaths and seek solutions to a problem that recurs every summer.
The Regional Ministry is aware of the state of these beach infrastructures throughout the Valencian Community and is already working on a long-term programme to renovate and modernise these facilities and adapt them to the repeated storms that affect the Valencian coast.
The City Council has already prepared a project for Arenal-Bol beach that would cost around €400,000 and would allow for the construction of a new piping system from a well away from the beach itself, with renovated footbaths and the creation of public toilets in the Arenal-Bol area.
However, to carry out this project, the Regional Ministry must delegate its authority and, in turn, the Coastal Authority must allow the Council to intervene. Therefore, following yesterday's meeting, the Valencian Community Tourism Department and the City Council have agreed to collaborate to find a joint formula that will allow the City Council to carry out the renovations either directly or in conjunction with the Regional Ministry. The next step in the procedure will be to inform the Coastal Authority of the agreement so that this administration can allow the project to go ahead.
The state of the footbaths on Arenal-Bol beach, one of the main beaches in the municipality, generates multiple complaints every summer from users of this service. In fact, it is one of the worst rated by beach users in recent seasons, according to the satisfaction survey carried out each year as part of the SICTED. All of this is detrimental to Calp's image as a municipality of recognised tourist prestige.
These problems have been reported on numerous occasions to Turisme de la Generalitat Valenciana, as the competent body for the provision and maintenance of this service, and the Town Council has reiterated its interest in taking over the operation of the water collection, pumping and distribution system for footbaths on the beaches of Arenal-Bol and Fossa, through the legal entity to be determined.