The new Paseo del Alamillo in the Puerto de Mazarron opens to the public
Mayor and Council team joined by Government Delegate and the head of the State Coastal Services
The Mayor of Mazarrón, Ginés Campillo, together with various local councillors, have received the Spanish State Government delegate, Mariola Guevara and the Head of the State Coastal Service for the area, Daniel Caballero to officially open the new Alamillo promenade.
This follows the completion of works in which the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has invested 3.5 million euros, which “will reinforce the tourist and aesthetic potential of the Port of Mazarrón”, said Mariola Guevara. The new pedestrian promenade, with an average width of six metres and a two-way cycle lane two metres wide, covers a strech of approximately 1,200 metres of coastline and will serve as a communication corridor between the current Rihuete promenade and the future viewing point at Punta del Alamillo.
In addition it is forecast to increase opportunities for walking on the front, which until now was focused solely on the Puerto de Mazarrón promenade, and allow for the interconnection of new and existing infrastructures.
Particularly notable are the footbridges over the floodwater runoff channels of Los Lorentes and Balsicas as functional and symbolic elements. The crossing with the Rambla de Los Lorentes boulevard is 34 metres long, covered by two wooden footbridges, the ends of which rest on butresses on each side with a concrete structure in the shape of a boat in the centre of the channel.
The 15-metre-wide Rambla de Balsicas is crossed by two independent wooden walkways for pedestrians and bicycles.
The new seafront walk is equipped with public lighting, drinking water, sanitation, rainwater collection, landscaping and irrigation services, including the following elements:
58 lights on 8-metre posts
112 date palms
10 bike racks
Seating benches every 30 metres
2 accessible toilet/changing room cabins
8 footbaths
58 waste bins
Mayor Ginés Campillo thanked the Spanish Government for having responded to this request from residents and visitors of Mazarrón and highlighted the cooperation between the Town Hall and the State Coastal Demarcation to make the promenade a reality.
During the project phase, the existence of archaeological remains on the Alamillo promenade were discovered, but their scope and importance were unknown. For this reason, the necessary budget was included to carry out investigations.
Once these had been carried out, it was discovered that some remains linked to the Roman villa of Alamillo, which consists of a residential section wtih thermal baths and an industrial section with several pools for the production of salted fish, were buried in this area, all from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.
Among the Roman structures unearthed are four pools and a space with brick arcade lines both lengthways and crossways, related to the existence of a heated area, and various walls and small structures linked to them. There is also a plastered wall from the 18th-19th century.
The presence of these remains made it necessary to propose a modification to the design of the promenade along a 40-metre long section, intended to preserve and enhance the archaeological finds so that they can be seen by those on the promenade. The works corresponding to this modification will be carried out after the summer when there are fewer visitors, allowing walkers to enjoy the promenade in the summer without inconvenience.
The contract modification has already been approved by the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, and has meant an increase in the budget to a total amount of €3,553,184.92.
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