The Asociación Vecinal Cal y Caña in Salobreña has complained about motorised paragliders carrying out “illegal practices” at Playa Punta del Río, next to the mouth of the Río Guadalfeo.

The illegal practices appear to be flying over this semi-conservation area, making a din, disturbing the wildlife, as well as beachgoers who seek the beach out to get away from the crowded main beaches.

On one the hand, Cal y Caña points out that motorised paragliding flights (apparently organised by a private company) are taking place “without complying with the regulations governing this activity in Spain.” They also point out that they have registered complaints to the relevant authorities since 2024 about them taking off and landing on a nearby area next to the beach; the cleared area is also used by aeromodellers.

We did an article about this in February 2022 about a fire near this area.

The association said that they had written to the Town Hall saying that these motorised paragliders were flying over people on the beach and because there had been a complete lack of response from them, they also sent it to the Guardia Civil. 

This affair ended up in the Motril law courts which obligated the Town Council to remove signposting for the area and which reduced the number of flights “slightly” last year.

However, according to Cal y Caña, they were “back again on May 24th, 2026, taking off from the same place (now improved as a landing strip) flying at a low altitude over people on the beach.”  So the association sent another letter to the Town Hall, pointing out that motorised paragliding falls under the Decreto Real 765/2022 and is based on AESA (State Aviation Safety Agency) regulations.

This Royal Decree strictly forbids them from “flying over crowds of people, buildings, urban areas, and in natural, bird-protection areas, as is the case here,” explained Cal y Caña. Nothing was heard back and flights have continued this summer.

Cal y Caña is not happy with the surfing club, either, 18 Nudos, because they play music through outside loudspeakers in the same area, as the clubhouse is at the mouth of the river, too. The association claims that it can be heard a kilometre from the beach, which, they consider contravenes the municipal bylaw which bans loud music on the beaches.

But it’s not only the music, rather the very existence of the surfing club in its present location, pointing out that it is located in a protected area that serves as a habitat for wild fauna and flora, especially the Kentish plover, and demands the effective application of the Regulation for the Preservation of Acoustic Quality in Andalucia.

Finally, they have threatened to take their complaints to higher authorities if something is not done about it.

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

Keywords: Motorised Paraglider Intrusion?, River Mouth, 18 Nudos, Kentish Plover, Cal y Canto, Protected Area, Landing Ground

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