The Calpe Town Council has completed the installation of ecological anchorages at Cantal Roig beach and Penyal cove. The initiative aims to ensure that boats moor using these low-impact systems, thereby avoiding damage to the Posidonia seagrass meadows.
The Mayor of Calpe, Ana Sala, and the Councillor for Environment and Beaches, Pere Moll, visited the area to inspect the infrastructure and see how it operates.
A total of 20 mooring systems have been deployed, with 10 placed off Cantal Roig beach and 10 off Penyal cove, situated in the southern zone of La Fossa beach. Both areas experience a high volume of recreational vessels. Furthermore, these beaches host meadows of two protected marine phanerogams: Cymodocea nodosa at Cantal Roig beach and Posidonia oceanica at La Fossa, which are considered the two most important marine plants in the Mediterranean.
Both species are included in the Council Decree for the conservation of marine phanerogam meadows in the Valencian Community, which dictates that anchoring over these high-value meadows is only permitted when using low-impact systems.
These anchoring systems consist of a surface buoy for vessels to moor to, which is connected to a structure fixed to the seabed using an anchoring base. In addition to ensuring the stability of the system, this base acts as a biotope and ecological refuge, encouraging an increase in biodiversity in the surrounding area.
“These structures will replace traditional moorings that caused severe deterioration to the protected phanerogams, a marine habitat key to biodiversity and water quality. At the same time, these low-impact ecological systems will become authentic fish nurseries and safe breeding zones,” noted Councillor Pere Moll.
The works, carried out by the company Sealand On Offshore Services SL, were awarded for an amount of 42,000 euro. This project forms part of the Calpe Tourism Sustainability Plan at Destination (PSTD) within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, financed by Next GenerationEU funds.
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