The First Councillor for Carchuna has said that they have written off this summer as far as tourism goes, after this 3rd beach closure.

The area of beach closed by the Junta is between the fort and Chiringuito La Patana, which is where it was closed the last time and for the same reason; the presence of Intestinal Enterococci and Escherichia coli, more commonly referred to as E. coli. In other words, human excrement traces.

The closure affects the whole of this weekend as water samples won’t be taken again until this coming Monday. Until then, the red, warning flag flies… not that anybody takes any notice of it.

The first time the beach was closed was on the 10th of July (a Thursday) and the restriction lifted a couple of days later. It was closed against around the end of July. Now it hit in the middle of August; the peak of summer tourism.

Nobody is happy; not the beach or first-line businesses, not tourists who have rented apartments or those that own properties within Urbanización La Perla and certainly not the locals and their municipal representatives.

The thing that bothers locals the most is that there has never been an official explanation where this microbiological menace is coming from… apart from somebody’s gut. Is it a sewage-system overspill? Is it coming down a barranco from housing not connected to the sewage system; i.e., dumped in a barranco? Or is it just the presence of tens of thousands of people in the sea next to the beach?

In the meantime, chiringuitos that have stocked their refrigerated show cabinets with fresh fish have to throw it all away. Reservations for table cry off yet workers still have to be paid.

Francisco Trujillo, who is the Chairman of the Asociación de Empresarios de Playas de La Costa Tropical, is very concerned, “It is regrettable, after several weeks, they still haven’t located the origin of this pollution,” adding, “You can’t play around with the reputation of a tourism destination.”

(News: Carchuna, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)

Keywords: E. Coli, Gut Microbes, Contamination, Beach Closed, Castillo, Chiringuito La Patana

news, andalucia, granada, costa tropical, carchuna, e. coli, gut microbes, contamination, beach closed, castillo, chiringuito la patana

Reader’s comment: “Or is it a new craze called reto marron? I read about this recently when one of our local pools was closed. Google it, if you haven’t heard of it. I guarantee you’ll be disgusted.” – Melanie Briggs Kidd