“It’s a disaster” Thousands of anchors are damaging the seabed in Javea

“It took a long time for the boat owners to realise this. They told us it limited their freedom at sea, that they had always dropped anchor without incident, and what was the sense in altering it now? And, after becoming accustomed to, accepting, and even applauding the use of mooring buoys, they are no longer available this year. We do not know what to say to them. “It is shocking.”

This person is not speaking for an environmental organisation. He desires to remain unknown and is involved in the maritime business in Xàbia. His is an insightful look at what is going on along the municipality’s coast this summer.

And what’s happening is that without those anchor buoys, which had been there for so many previous summers, “thousands of anchors” are falling plumb onto the seabed of Xàbia, a town that, as is customary at this time of year, is a veritable sea highway, with countless leisure boats off its coast.

Although scientific studies will eventually determine the extent of the damage, no expert is required to determine that the current state of lawlessness is seriously harming the precious posidonia meadows, one of the Mediterranean ecosystem’s greatest treasures, on whose protection all levels and political parties agree. And that “is a real disaster,” say coastal dwellers.

These new voices explain that all of the progress gained in recent years in terms of safety and awareness has been undone in a single summer of chaos. The Generalitat (Catalan government) owns ten of the white buoys in Tangó, as the crisis has affected almost the entire Xàbia coastline. However, Cala Sardinera, Cala Blanca, Cap Negre, and the famous sea caves lack buoys, leaving the rest of the beachfront a wasteland.

Not only does the crisis affect the environment, but it also impacts the users themselves. The first, although it may appear counterintuitive, are boat owners who initially objected but have now gotten used to mooring buoys, viewing them as a safety factor as well as a source of peace of mind when travelling at sea, according to the aforementioned business representative.

Concern at diving centres

However, the issue has had a negative impact on dive centres. Scuba divers have expressed concerns about the potential ramifications for posidonia, as well as the risk to their safety.

At the time, the local government, which included the People’s Party (PP), Ciudadanos por Jávea, and Vox, blamed the issue on a delay in completing the application with the Coastal Authority. However, the truth is that the government has not been especially concerned with this problem, nor has it reported on it.