According to environmentalists, they understand that the huge brown piles washed up on shore with bad weather, look and smell terrible, and are not liked by sunbathers. However, they recommend that local authorities do not remove them, if possible, in order to preserve marine life and contribute to the fight against climate change.
Posidonia, or “seagrass”, on Spanish beaches is already protected in parts of Alicante, where local authorities have decided to protect it at all costs.
Other resorts across Spain are also considering keeping the piles intact, even though high-paying tourists have to wade through them to reach the sea.
The Spanish Institute of Coastal Ecology recommends postponing removal posidonia at least before the high season on the busiest beaches.
In Valencia, some of the decaying algae had to be collected due to very hot weather.
The Institute of Coastal Ecology warns: “Algae and the remains of other marine plants play an important ecological role in coastal ecosystems, especially in the sediment balance of beaches and bays.” In addition, the preservation of plant debris is one of the main criteria for obtaining the Blue Flag status.
Firms for cleaning beaches from algae “try” so much so that 80 percent of the waste that goes to landfill is actually sand. Damage to the natural sand cover results in the destruction and erosion of the coast.
In Alicante, an information campaign has already begun to try to change the idea of vacationers about heaps of algae next to sunbeds.
The Valencian authorities, in turn, approved a decree to preserve Posidonia plantations in their coastal waters and prevent their destruction by motor fuel, anchors and etc.
Posidonia meadows, protected by European law, occupy more than 30,000 hectares in the Valencian area. They are home to over 400 species of plants and 1,000 animals, many of which are of commercial interest, and some are under serious threat.
But despite advice and persuasion, holidaymakers in different parts of Spain complain about the dirt and disorder on the beaches. In Playa d'en Bossa in Ibiza, after heavy spring storms, huge mounds of posidonia still remain on the coast, and tourists say that there is no place to just lay out towels.
Some stretches of the coast in past years a few rows of sunbeds, and now there is no beach area left at all.
Ibiza residents took to social media to complain, posting the message: “Posidonia decomposes in the heat, accumulation of algae on urban tourist beaches is a health hazard . It smells like rotten stuff.
Marine vegetation emits poisonous gases, and experts are sounding the alarm: they can kill sunbathers in a few seconds.
According to another version, toxic substances — the result of chemical fertilizer leaking into the sea from nearby fields.