The Infrastructure area of the Palma City Council has commissioned a €16,000 study to analyse the accelerated loss of sand at Playa de Palma, which in some sections of Porciúncula barely reaches four metres in width.
Playa de Palma is shrinking. The Palma City Council, through its Infrastructure area, has launched a technical study on coastal dynamics of the five kilometres of beach stretching from the Can Pastilla Nautical Club to s'Arenal. The aim: to understand why the sand is disappearing at a rate that is literally leaving bathers without space in places like Porciúncula, where the width has been reduced to barely four metres in some areas.
The study, with a budget of €16,000, aims to provide a scientific response to a problem that, according to municipal sources, "reduces the usable surface for bathing, increases the vulnerability of the coastal front, and negatively affects the environmental and tourist quality" of the area. In les Meravelles, the situation is less critical, with sections still exceeding 25 metres in width, but the trend is worrying across the entire coastline.
A diagnosis before the major reform
The Infrastructure department wants to have this updated analysis before executing its flagship project: the Renovation and landscape recovery of Platja de Palma. An integral action that goes far beyond a facelift of the promenade and seeks to solve structural problems such as the obsolescence of infrastructure, deficiencies in the drainage system, lack of permeability, and the scarcity of shaded areas and green spaces.
In this context, sand regression is identified as "one of the main structural problems of the environment," according to the study's terms of reference. The City Council emphasises that it must be addressed "using a rigorous technical methodology, capable of identifying its causes and guiding appropriate solutions."
A problem affecting tourism and residents
The loss of sand is not just a landscape issue. For residents of Playa de Palma and the tourists who visit, the reduction of the usable beach area translates into crowding and less space to enjoy bathing. In Porciúncula, bathers are piled up on the sand, and the shoreline is just a step away from the towels. The study must establish an objective technical basis to guide the subsequent phases of the recovery project, which will include a design competition to define the final design.
The timeline for the completion of the study has not been specified, but Cort is hopeful that it will be ready in the coming months. In the meantime, the beach continues to lose sand, and residents are crossing their fingers that the solution does not come too late. Because, as those who live there say, "we all live off the beach."
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