On the afternoon of Thursday 7th of November, CIOMijas hosted the 3rd Current Affairs Forum, which on this occasion was entitled ‘Regeneration of the Coastline: Towards a Sustainable Future for the Costa del Sol’. Organised by the Circle of Entrepreneurs, it was aimed at all professionals and people interested in this important issue for the future of our beaches, both economically and environmentally. For the president of the association, Adolfo Trigueros, "it is important that we look after and maintain the greatest economic asset we have in the province of Malaga, our coastline, and for this we must seek solutions so that the storms do not destroy the beaches that tourists enjoy all year round".

Exceptional speakers

The event featured exceptional speakers such as the head of the Coastal Demarcation, Ángel González, who shared his vision of the current challenges; the delegate of the Department of Sustainability and Environment of the Andalusian Regional Government, José Antonio Viquez, who provided an institutional perspective on environmental policies; the president of the Mancomunidad de Municipios de la Costa del Sol, Manuel Cardeña, who spoke about the collaboration between municipalities for the protection of the coastline; and the professor of Coastal Studies at the University of Malaga, Francisco Ignacio Franco, who presented academic studies and innovative proposals.

In addition, the journalist Enrique Lepiñán moderated the meeting where some solutions to this problem were suggested, such as the one highlighted by the delegate of the circle of entrepreneurs in Mijas, José Francisco Ruiz: "Obviously what we are talking about is, in some way, putting up barriers so that the storms do not eat away the coastline, such as a breakwater. Furthermore, I think Mijas is the only municipality on the Costa del Sol that does not have any barriers, we don't even have a port, although we know that this is a very complicated project".

Meeting with representatives

The forum was an opportunity to discuss the solutions and strategies needed to conserve and regenerate the coastline of the Costa del Sol, as it is not only a natural resource, but also an essential economic engine. In this sense, the councillor for Commerce, Juan Carlos Maldonado (PMP), considered the presentation as "very interesting, because they are also tackled from the administrations, which are the ones that have competences in this regard, especially in beaches and sustainability".

The councillor for the Environment, Marco Cortés (PP), also present at the meeting, pointed out that the entrepreneurs "have brought an essential issue for the coast of Málaga, especially that of Mijas, because every year we suffer the lashing of the sea and the storms and they are the ones who suffer the most, so we must pay attention to what they have to tell us".

For his part, the councillor of the Municipal Group PSOE Mijas, Nicolás Cruz, said that "we wanted to participate to express our opinion on the matter, as we understand that any solution must involve global, sustainable, integrated actions, based on science and technical criteria and not on the political ideas of the moment".

The forum was followed by a networking session where ideas and opinions were exchanged among the participants.

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