More than 70 volunteers, summoned by the Lanzarote Limpia Association, cleaned the beach of Caleta de Caballo this Sunday, which was flooded with sea grass. Cleaning tasks that have continued this Monday by operators of the Teguise City Council.
Over the weekend, residents of the area contacted La Voz to report that the beach had been flooded with sea grass for "several days" and to complain about the bad smell. "We cannot lie on the sand, much less have space for separation between families," they pointed out, while complaining that the City Council had not gone to clean it.
"With the same atmospheric phenomena, on Saturday morning, even on Friday, a lot of sea grass entered that beach of Caleta de Caballo," said the councilor of Teguise, Eugenio Robayna, who thanked Lanzarote Limpia for the cleaning carried out during the day on Sunday.
"Right now there are already City Council personnel to continue with the cleaning work, but we know that these are adverse situations with coastal phenomena, that we may clean today and tomorrow it comes back again," the mayor pointed out early this Monday.
However, Eugenio Robayna has stated that he believes that "we have to start living with this type of circumstances that nature leaves us." "Famara beach, during the confinement, was full of sea grass and people told me that it had to be cleaned and I said no, that Famara beach is never cleaned, that the tide brings it and the tide takes it away. In fact, there is almost none left. However, in this case of Caleta de Caballo we have to monitor it almost daily," he added.
Seaweed accompanied by microplastics and tar
Regarding the cleaning carried out by Lanzarote Limpia, the group has highlighted that the seaweed "was accompanied by microplastics and tar," expressing their concern. "The most common waste in the area has been petroleum derivatives, which are winning the game and is a serious problem for our ecosystem," they pointed out from the association.
In the cleaning tasks convened by this group, in addition to residents of the area, young immigrants from the La Santa shelter also participated. "Human beings who have risked their lives to know a better world. And, once here, they have worked like everyone else, together with everyone and for everything we love, our island of Lanzarote," they highlighted from Lanzarote Limpia, from where they consider that it was "an incredible day, worthy of admiration." "Well, neighbors and volunteers have gone out to conserve, fight and protect our environment," they highlighted from the association.
