SEAFRONT DEVELOPMENT SLAMMED

Greenpeace and Valencia University oppose building schemes

EXPERTS have warned against any attempt to build on Dénia's coastline due to the extreme risk of erosion – and they feature in a documentary showing the damage urban development has caused the town's most stricken beach.

Former conveyancing solicitor Gonzalo Blanco used photos of his grandfather's villa on Blay Beach, where the sea now laps against the roadside walls and threatens the safety of homes on the shore, to make his short film exposing the horrors of over-building.

“My granddad knew this beach with 200 metres of sand,” Blanco says.

“He and his neighbour planted melons, and another homeowner nearby had around 200 olive trees.”

Blanco, head of Marblanc Productions, says he made the documentary after hearing about a three-storey apartment block due to go up on the Blay Beach.

In it, he speaks to regional environment minister María José Salvador, who says: “Evidently, we've found out too late about this.”

Valencia University dean of ports and coasts Dr Josep Ramón Medina says on the film that 'nothing should ever be built at less than two metres above sea-level'.

Finally, Greenpeace representative Julio Barea appears on camera criticising the Isbert dam and Cemesa cement factory, which used lorryloads of sand from the beaches and the river Girona.

“The dynamics of the coastline have been dramatically altered without any proper research,” Barea says.

Blanco wanted to speak to the developers, but was advised against it.