S’Abanell beach in Blanes to get more sand soon

VisitBlanes.com — The tourist season is in full swing, but the City Council of Blanes is still waiting for Spain’s Ministry of the Environment to make good on its promise to deposit 250.000 cubic meters of additional sand on the beach of S’Abanell.

Delivery is now expected to take place in late July or early August.

S’Abanell, one of longest beaches of the Costa Brava, was seriously decimated by last December’s destructive storm.

The Boxing Day storm — said to be the worst the Costa Brava has seen since the late 1950s — caused an estimated €20 million in damage to beaches, boulevards, walkways, bridges and quays along the coast.

In Blanes powerful waves not only dragged most of S’Abanell’s sand out to sea, but also damaged large sections of the promenade alongside the beach.

Much of the beach was reconstructed well before the tourist season started. The additional 250.000 cubic meters of sand was to be in place by June, but delivery was delayed due to environmental impact research.

The search for machinery — with the right capacity and at the right price — further delayed the project.

The extra sand is now expected to be deposited in the last week of June or the first week of August.

S’Abanell beach and boulevard

First-time visitors to Blanes will be delighted with S’Abanell beach even in its current incarnation.

So will return visitors, though they’ll notice that the beach is smaller and somewhat lower than in previous years. The extra delivery of sand will remedy that.

The City Council of Blanes hopes that the construction of an underwater breakwater will go a long way to prevent another cycle of erosion this coming winter.

Meanhwile, the damaged sections of the boulevard along S’Abanell beach have been repaired — in semi-permanent fashion.

Huge boulders have been deposited along large sections of the boulevard. In places where the boulevard was dragged away by the waves, concrete has replaced the decorative red and white tiles.

Sets of stairs have been installed to provide access to the sand, and a wooden fence discourages people from breaking their necks should they try and climb across the rocks.

In several places, potted palm trees are bolted to the concrete.

Change is in the air, though. Some time next year work will commence on a huge project to upgrade Blanes’ tourist district — including Paseo de S’Abanell.