People with small craft beached in La Herradura, most of whom indulge in sports fishing (angling, etc.) are relieved to hear that the Town Hall does not intend to reduce the area by half.

The space set aside for storing small boats (varadero) presently covers 800 sq/m and is close to the Peña Parda end of the bay.

The Town Council had plans to combine the area next to the mouth of Río Jate (150 sq/m) and that occupied by Actividades Náuticas Dani’s to a total area of just 375 sq/m. Spokesperson for the association, Jorge Barbero, said, “We are grateful that the Town Hall has reconsidered and decided to maintain the varadero with its 800 sq/m.”

According to Spokesman Barbero, the varadero should occupy 950 metres as it is part of the heritage of the village; its origins as a fishing village. He said, “We don’t mind it being moved more to the left or to the right, but we demand that it maintains those 150 sq/m, so that we can guarantee all the craft have enough room.”

The Councillor for Beaches, Lucía González, confirmed that the decision not to reduce the 800 sq/m comes about following a request from the association, saying, “When they told us that they wanted to keep it where it was, we kept it as it was.”

But it’s not all good news for the sports-fishing association as the 150 sq/m varadero next to the river mouth is still “up in the air,” as the Town Hall has not decided where to move it to although it assures the association that the new spot will be nearby.

So, why do they want to change the location of the varadero from next to the river? Because of the plans to build a luxury hotel nearby. The hotel will bring an investment of 200m euros, so the Town Hall doesn’t want a shabby beach area for upturned boats spoiling the view, perhaps.

Lastly, local fishermen complain that the varadero’s equipment (two winches used for dragging the boats up the beach) doesn’t work. This means that the boats have to be manhandled up the beach away from the waterline. According to the association, there are presently 65 craft stored on the beach, many of which are shared by different families within the village.

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

Keywords: Varadero, Beached Craft, Winch, Río Jate, Cultural Heritage, Luxury Hotel

news, andalucia, granada, costa tropical, herradura, varadero, beached craft, winch, río jate, cultural heritage, luxury hotel