Spanish beach clean-up to attract new buyers

A massive beach and coastline clean-up operation has been started by Spanish Officials to improve the chances of getting more tourists and home buyers.

The Spanish government is spending 20 million euros this year buying up blots on the coastal landscape such as derelict buildings and plots to improve the scenery for millions of holidaymakers and new home buyers.

According to the Environment Ministry 63 plots have been purchased and demolished this year so far as part of a programme to return the seashore to its natural state. Spain has a 10,000-kilometre coastline and only about 122 locations have been identified for this year, so there’s a long way to go yet.

The scheme is called Operation Eyesore and is using ‘Law of the Coasts’ to tear down Beach bars, homes, walls, jetties etc. The law allows illegal or abandoned structures within a certain distance of the seaside to be demolished. The law was passed in the 1980s after officials realised that unrestricted building during the tourism boom had turned much of the coast into an eyesore and was souring many foreign visitors on holidaying in Spain. Now it is being used to return the environment to it’s natural state.

Jose Fernandez, the chief of the Ministry’s Coastal Department, said that a dozen of the demolitions had taken place in Almeria province, followed by nine in Murcia, six in Coruna, and five in Girona. The rest occurred around the rest of Spain, including the Balearic and Canary Islands.