The pumping system for the footbaths on Calpe's La Fossa beach is still out of order while waiting for Turisme Comunitat Valenciana, the body responsible for this infrastructure, to award the maintenance service and carry out the repairs.
In view of the numerous complaints received by the Town Council from users, last March the Calpe Town Council informed the regional body of its interest in taking over the operation of the water collection, pumping and distribution system for the footbaths on the Arenal-Bol and La Fossa beaches, through the legal figure to be determined, although no response has been received to date. In addition, the town council offered to collect the necessary parts for the repair of the pumping system on the Fossa beach and to carry out the necessary repairs with municipal staff, although Turisme Comunitat Valenciana communicated that it did not have the necessary spare parts.
This is a problem that is not new and in fact, the Calpe town council has been demanding for years to Turisme Comunitat Valenciana the renovation and expansion of the facilities on the beaches of La Fossa and Arenal-Bol according to the needs of the current population of Calpe, in order to solve the problems of water cuts and low pressure that usually occur during the summer season at peak times, due to the age and limited capacity of the infrastructure.
On the other hand, this is not a problem exclusive to Calpe and in fact, there are numerous municipalities in the Valencian Community that are having problems with the operation of the footbaths on their beaches and are also awaiting the awarding of the service.
In the meantime, and while waiting for the maintenance contract for this infrastructure to be formalised by Turisme Comunitat Valenciana, the Calpe Beaches department has removed the footbaths from La Fossa beach for maintenance and repair, so they will be reinstalled on the beach as soon as the pumping system is working again. In addition, with the resources available, we are trying to solve all the incidents that arise as quickly as possible. To this end, a 24-hour on-call service is available and, if necessary, the services of Turisme Generalitat Valenciana technicians are required to solve them.
Calpe Town Council wishes to point out that the existence of footbaths on the beaches is not a necessary requirement for the awarding of blue flags by ADEAC, although in the case of having this infrastructure the association does establish as a requirement that this installation is in operation.
‘Our hands are tied with this problem as we have no authority over these facilities; we have made and continue to make all the necessary arrangements within our reach to resolve this situation as soon as possible as we are the first interested in Calpe, as an eminently touristic municipality, having quality beaches and services’, said the councillor for Beaches Pere Moll.