San Javier Mayor praises efforts to reduce biomass from the Mar Menor

The Rambla del Albujón has become a “river” this year, says José Miguel Luengo

José Miguel Luengo, the Mayor of San Javier, has praised the efforts to remove biomass from the Mar Menor, calling it a “fundamental” task as he considers the entry of fresh water into the lagoon via the Rambla del Albujón the main cause of the alterations in its marine environment.

The current clean-up campaign in the Mar Menor is being carried out by the regional government of Murcia and Sr Luengo repeated that demands for further help from the national administration, adding that the Rambla (natural floodwater channel) is now no longer a “rambla” but has become a river. So far this hydrological year (starting on 1^st October), according to regional minister Juan María Vázquez, the amount of water reaching the lagoon via the rambla has been 7.31 cubic hectometres (equivalent to 2,995 Olympic swimming pools), well over double the quantity in the whole of the previous hydrological year (3.11 hm³).

At the same time, the national Costas department is endeavouring to recover the stretch of beach near Los Arcos which was lost during the last “Dana” storm, the hope being that all of the beaches in the municipality are in good shape for the Easter holidays.

While visiting the area Sr Vázquez reported that far more work is being carried out this year than in the previous ones, and that the amounts of biomass removed came to 1,158 tons in January and 1,540 tons in March, plus a further 816 tons so far in March. Most of it comes from the south of the lagoon, in places like Los Urrutias, El Carmolí, Los Nietos, Mar de Cristal and Islas Menores, and the southern end of La Manga, and while this falls mainly in the municipality of Cartagena it is self-evident that the quality of the water in the Mar Menor affects all of the other municipalities which share the coastline (San Javier, Los Alcázares and San Pedro del Pinatar).

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