The Xàbia City Council has ordered the closure of the tourist Arenal beach, the most popular in the town, due to the presence of high levels of bacteria of fecal origin, as reported in a statement.
The consistory has made this decision as a consequence of the results of the latest analyzes of the Water Control Program of the General Water Directorate, received this morning, before which instructions have been given to both the Local Police and the Red Cross for the beach closure. The red flag has been raised and bathers are notified of the situation over the public address system, who are authorized to remain on the sand.
In addition, from the Department of Beaches they have commissioned a supplementary analysis to those carried out by the General Directorate of Water, the results of which will be made public as soon as they are received.
Recently, this beach appeared on the list of the six black flags of the Valencian Community that in 2023 has been awarded by the group of Ecologists in Action in the annual report that it carries out based on its research on deteriorated, contaminated or threatened places on the coast.
Ecologists in Action explains that the Arenal de Xàbia beach takes its black flag badge for the urban wastewater discharges that have occurred after the passage of storms and storms that caused the outfall to break.
Just yesterday, the group of Neighbors of the Arenal Beach denounced on their social networks that “the summer season begins with the negative note of the works of the submarine outfall on the most emblematic beach of the Xabienc coast and the loss of its cataloging as Blue Flag after the slow action of those responsible for the corresponding administrations”.
According to the neighborhood group, “a whole year has taken the Entitat de Sanejament d’Aigües of the Generalitat Valenciana (EPSAR) and the Xàbia City Council to agree and tender the repair of the underwater emissary, the tube that carries fecal water to the bay and away from the beach. We hope that the company ends before next weekend, which will already be July”.
The residents accuse the previous municipal corporation of not having recognized the situation in time, until “the actions of Ecologistas en Acción exposed the contamination suffered by the area and which was denied.”
