Long term solution for beach flooding agreed

FOLLOWING many years of extreme flooding in La Cala de Finestrat agreement has been reached which has seen plans to resolve the problem being drafted.

The Finestrat Council and the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar (CHJ) have instructed that their joint technical report would now be drafted into a future project aimed at stemming the flow of heavy rainwater.

During heavy rainfall the centre of La Cala becomes a torrid river, flowing through the resort causing danger to life.  

Tragically in October 2011 a British couple died and five people were injured when flood water gushed through the local market seeking lower ground, sweeping them and many others off their feet.

One of the main difficulties in finding a solution to the problem has been that the ravine is urbanised and paved, this has made the water run at a much faster pace and unable to seep into soft ground.

Juan Francisco Perez, mayor, said: “In La Cala de Finestrat when it rains, flood water not only affects the ravine but a part of the Marina Baixa Avenida. We have for a long time been working with local technicians on a proposal that minimises the problem but that we could agree with the CHJ.”

The approved documents have now been forwarded to the relevant authorities as the plans include the removal of tarmac, building rock blockades and a channel that would send the flow out into the sea.