Long-awaited toilets already removed from packed Orihuela Costa beaches
Bathroom facilities have been closed at 11 Orihuela Costa beaches despite the continued influx of tourists
Residents and visitors to Alicante’s sunny Orihuela Costa had to endure most of the year without any beach facilities to speak of due to another delay with contracts. Since January, popular coastal resorts like Cabo Roig and La Zenia have been devoid of beach bars, sun loungers and umbrellas and it was only when the summer was practically over that the council stepped up and installed temporary chemical toilets.
But now locals are raging again as the bathroom facilities were prematurely removed on September 15 while the beaches are still packed full of tourists.
For the Cabo Roig y Lomas Neighborhood Association, the decision to only sign a contract for the toilets until mid-September is “incomprehensible”, since the mild climate means that the high season on the Orihuela Costa runs well into October, if not November.
“It is an unacceptable and totally erroneous decision because it does not take into account the interests of beach users and is an attack on hygiene and health,” the group criticised in a letter to the Orihuela City Council in July, in which they asked that the facilities remain open. That letter has yet to receive an official response.
And while the councillor for the Costa Manuel Mestre has promised that he will consider extending the contracts for both the bathrooms and the beach bars for next year, the Association has called on him to “urgently” reopen the toilets for the remainder of this season.
“This closure of toilets is impossible to accept due to the tourism that visits us, which is still very numerous, a very important source of income for the municipality,” the group said, adding that there were more than 300 bathers on La Caleta beach in Cabo Roig on any given day last week.
To compensate for the lack of beach bars, the council finally allowed food trucks to set up in beach car parks in the middle of August. However, this came as too little too late for many visitors, who instead travelled to the coast of neighbouring Murcia to avail themselves of full facilities.
Image: Freepik
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