We probably all know that this summer in Malaga will be very different from other years. As the restrictions are progressively relaxed, we can already outline the panorama we will find this summer 2020 on the Costa del Sol beaches. Everything you need to know, municipality by municipality.
In fact, perhaps the most striking thing is that there are no general regulations regarding the use of beaches on the Costa del Sol, but each municipality is free to configure its own measures. This seems a little confusing to us, since we have to look for information according to each Costa del Sol municipality where we want to take a bath this summer.
Let’s start with Torremolinos, as this municipality stands out for being the only one on the entire Costa del Sol that has imposed a beach use schedule.
Table of Contents
Western Costa del Sol
The Government of Andalusia has reported that in all the beaches of the community will be controllers, responsible for ensuring compliance with regulations.
Torremolinos
Torremolinos has a timetable for the use of beaches, which will be from 11 am to 8 am, a time slot in which there will be lifeguard stations. There will be a control of the capacity of its 7 kilometres of coast with specific accesses and through an app to inform citizens about the degree of occupation in real time.
Malaga city
In Malaga city we can enjoy the beaches “while there is sun”. Which is currently about 12 and a half hours, which gives us plenty of time to enjoy this refreshing swim.
From June 15th, and through the application ‘Málaga Funciona’, the people of Málaga will be able to know the capacity of the beaches, the maximum allowed or the colour of the flag. In turn, the idea is that this application becomes a kind of social network for each person, before going to the beach, sharing their destination and their schedule to establish a control.
Benalmadena
Benalmádena will launch next June 10th the app “Social Beach”. The app uses a system with a QR code and is designed through the use of a virtual ticket that will allow the Town Hall to make an exhaustive control of the affluence of the beaches and the user will be able to use them ethically. In addition, the controllers will monitor access to the beaches by adding people who come without a smartphone to the register.
Fuengirola
In Fuengirola, the City Council will use a free downloadable app to monitor the capacity of the beaches, creating virtual grids in real time to know the level of attendance to avoid crowding.
Mijas
Mijas is another town that will use drones, along with 30 beach controllers and 53 lifeguards who will ensure compliance with the rules, and two other lifeguards who will ride their bikes along the coast.
Marbella
Marbella will also use the app, along with local police and drones.
Estepona
Estepona has yet to draw up its beach plan and send it to the Andalusian Regional Government, setting out the actions to be carried out. In this municipality it will be the Local Police who will ensure compliance with the security measures of “keeping two meters away” both in the sand and in the sea.
Manilva
Manilva will delimit in the sand different figures with municipal tractors so that the families can orient themselves with respect to the interpersonal distances and it will count on the Local Police, Civil Protection and guards to control its 8 kilometres of coast.
Sotogrande
Sotogrande will use the app “Safebeach” to control the capacity and with real time information.
Eastern Costa del Sol
Rincon de la Victoria
In Rincon de la Victoria there will be limited access to the beaches. From June 15 the showers will be opened, where the surfaces will be analysed, as well as the public toilets that will be cleaned every time a user enters.
Velez Malaga
Velez-Málaga will divide the beaches into two and a half meter squares. There will also be new hygiene measures in the modules of the toilets, signalling and capacity control and the municipality will have an app where they can have real-time status of each beach and control system through drones.
Torrox
Staff will inform bathers of the recommendations and disinfection measures will be intensified.
Nerja
In Nerja, the Town Hall has drawn up a set of rules and recommendations, among which it is worth mentioning that you should walking along the beach keeping to the right and keep a safety distance of two metres. It also advises not to share games and to use the changing rooms if strictly necessary on an individual basis, and with footwear.
Essential beach apps this summer
How do you know that capacity and the state of the beaches? This year, the apps seem to be our indispensable companions.
Social beach
The app ‘Social beach’ will inform about the capacity of the beaches this summer from June 10th. You can scan the QR code of each beach to get the corresponding information and to see in real time how many places are available on each beach. In addition, users can check how long they can stay on the beach at most.
The operation of the app is very easy and intuitive. With the mobile phone users can get a kind of free virtual ticket to go to the beach. Once there, it is the users themselves who register their entry and that of their companions by scanning the QR code placed on a sign at the different access points.
The practical information we find is similar to that of other beach applications: weather data – such as temperature, rainfall or wind -, tidal conditions, low and high tide times. Data on the services and characteristics of the beach, such as accessibility or danger from jellyfish, are also available.
The most interesting part of the app is that users themselves can interact with others by posting their comments and ratings of the beaches. In fact, the application is prepared to be able to rate the beaches and recommend them or not to other bathers.
Safe beach
The app proposes a system by which some “totems” or small icons or beacons in the sand to create a matrix, a divided space in which each item will identify a delimited area according to the distance measurements.
Users will enter the application from home to see if there is space available and the schedule. They will find in blue or red the areas that are available in each time slot and so they can reserve theirs to know that, in a guaranteed way, they will have that space for them when they get to the beach.
In the system it is not possible to reserve a space all month or during several hourly periods, but only one reservation in a specific period.
The application will guide you with the GPS to “your stick” and once there you will have to read an exclusive QR code for each beacon and this way it will be known that you have actually arrived, and the same when the user leaves, so that you are notified that the schedule has been met, that the area is free and that, if you leave before time, it can be used by another user.
Applications are available free of charge for iPhone and Android.
It’s going to be an interesting summer, what do you think? 😉
;)
Travelling to Malaga in May-June;)
Fuengirola – Multicultural city by the sea;)
New fuel labels from October 12, 2018