Aula del Mar, the Mijas Town Hall, Diving with Nic and the Royal Beach Pirata beach bar joined forces on Thursday 2nd of October for an environmental action as part of the campaign ‘One Square Metre for Beaches and Seas’ by the LIBERA Project. Calahonda Beach became the setting for a beach and marine litter clean-up day.

Volunteers spread out along the beach collecting plastics, cigarette butts and other rubbish, while a team of four divers from Diving with Nic dived into the waters of Calahonda to clean the seabed. “We took charge of the underwater clean-up, collecting rubbish such as fishing gear, hooks, lead weights and other waste like plastic bottles, bags and paper”, explained Laureano Georgetti, manager of Diving with Nic.

This work is “very important”, said the councillor for the Environment, Marco Cortés (PP): “It’s always worth reminding and raising awareness that the beach is a natural space, and so is the seabed, and we must preserve both”. According to the councillor, “nature doesn’t end where the water begins, which is why we’ve been cleaning underwater too, because we must remember that the seabed is also heavily polluted by waste washed down from rivers due to human activity”.

Cortés thanked all the people and companies involved in these coastal clean-up activities. He also appealed for “awareness among beach users, both tourists and local residents, to realise what we leave behind on the beaches: cigarette butts, plastics, all of that pollutes”.

Intensifying clean-up days

Now that the beach season has ended, these clean-up days will be carried out more frequently along the Mijas coastline. “We’re working to make them quarterly. We’re now entering the low tourist season, so we’re intensifying the cleaning of natural areas along the beaches, as this is the ideal time because there are fewer people around”, explained the councillor.

‘One Square Metre for Beaches and Seas’

The event is part of the campaign ‘One Square Metre for Beaches and Seas’, which aims to raise awareness among residents and visitors about the impact of 'basuraleza' (litter in nature). Cigarette butts, microplastics and other waste continue to be the main pollutants, both on the surface and underwater.

The initiative not only seeks to keep beaches free of litter, but also to reduce waste generation, reuse and repair instead of discarding, and above all, to prevent waste from reaching the sea. “Anyone who’s diving, snorkelling or even just at the beach can help by picking up any rubbish they see floating, underwater or on the sand”, encouraged Georgetti.

The organisers invite citizens to take part in this and other clean-up campaigns. For more information, visit the official website of the LIBERA Project

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