Well, in only a few days time we should be ascending to Phase Two and with it, access to the beach for swimming and sunbathing.
But who is going to keep an eye on people to make sure that they keep to the rules? The answer, in some towns, is lifeguards who will not only be on the look out for swimmers in trouble, but also keep an eye on the people sitting on the beach.
Over 80 lifeguards are being hired to carry out their duties along the 73 kilometres of beaches that stretch along the Costa Tropical.
Although Salobreña has almost doubled the number of lifeguards with 21 lifeguards compared to the 11 from last year to patrol its four kilometres of beaches, the Mayor has called upon the Guardia Civil and even the Spanish Army to help out.
Polopos-La Mamola, with its 1,700 inhabitants, will not be hiring lifeguards this summer but will be looking into hiring beach guards; i.e., people purely to control the use of the beach rather than swim out and save people. Furthermore, they don’t have Policía Local officers because they have all been transferred elsewhere over the summer.
In Gualchos-Castell de Ferro, the Mayor, Antonia Antequera, intends to increase the number of lifeguards from five to seven.
Over in Almuñécar, Councillor Daniel Barbero, says that they are going to hire 35 lifeguards (the same number as last year), who will start work from the 12th of June. However, he pointed out that even though there will be no lifeguard service until the 12th it doesn’t mean that people can’t use the beach before then, probably starting Monday.
Almuñécar has 19 kilometres of beaches and counts on 44 officers belonging to the Policía Local, as well as Protección Civil volunteers, so they should not have any problem controlling the beaches.
Motril will hire 19 lifeguards, the same as last year who will be concentrating on people in the water, whereas the 98 police officers belonging to the Policía Local, as well as the Protección Civil volunteers, will keep an eye on the people on the beaches.
Added to these numbers are 3,000 employees that the Junta will provide to help town halls control how people use the beaches.
(New: Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)