Beach information website launched
Obey the flag system, advises councillor
THE VALENCIA government has launched a new online service which includes information designed to reduce the risk of drowning at the region’s beaches.
Councillor for justice and the interior Gabriela Bravo noted that 251 people have drowned in the region since 2015, with 28 of these in the current year. Two people died in heavy seas in just five days earlier this month at La Mata in Torrevieja.
The ‘playas seguras’ (safe beaches) website can be found at platgessegures.gva.es/es
Sra Bravo explained that it gives information on each beach in the region.
Users can click on a link which takes them to a detailed analysis of that beach.
The figures presented include the number of people allowed, length, width, type of sand, Blue Flag status, parking and other facilities available.
Some of them show the ‘real time’ number of people on the beaches, where these figures are provided by town halls.
There is also information designed to make people’s visits safer, she added.
This is to help reduce the number of drownings which occur and to make people aware of potential dangers, she added.
‘Recklessness caused by overconfidence in their own physical capabilities, or due to a lack of knowledge about the areas they are visiting’, can cause people to get into trouble in the sea, she added.
“It is important to enjoy our coastline in a safe way,” she said.
“People should always pay attention to what the lifeguards are saying and the indications on bathing shown by the flags.”
Sra Bravo reminded that more than 1,000 young people are patrolling the beaches this summer – in addition to the lifeguards – to give users information on Covid-19 restrictions and to ensure that beaches do not become overcrowded.
Sra Bravo reminded that the Valencia region’s coastline stretches for 270 kilometres from the border with Cataluña in the north to the Murcia border in the south.