Hotel site restoration begins
ENVIRONMENTAL restoration of the seafront plot where the Arenales hotel stood, until it was finally demolished in November, got underway on Tuesday, announced city hall.
The work is being carried out by the national coast department (Costas), and started with collecting sand from El Altet beach. Once dismantling of the foundations of the old hotel has been completed, the sand will be used to return the site to its original state.
Although sand from other beaches will be used to fill in the hole, the superficial layers will be sand specifically from El Altet so that it blends in with the surrounding area.
In the meantime, this sand will be piled up on the esplanade of the car park on the first
section of the road leading to El Altet beach.
The project first had to be approved by the government and city hall, in its capacity as caretaker of the Clot de Galvany municipal nature reserve.
Costas assured that it intends to finish this collection of sand before the nesting period of the Kentish plover, a rare
bird that lives in the area.
The hotel opened in 1963 and was the first building in what became the existing village of Arenales del Sol.
After it closed in 1979 it was left derelict, becoming an eyesore on the seafront until a recent attempt to restore it was eventually abandoned amidst prolonged legal wrangling.
Following its demolition, the 6,000 square metre site became public-maritime domain that is now being restored, a process that sets an example for what will happen with other buildings on the coast around the country, according to the secretary of state for the environment, Hugo Morán when he visited in November.