The five requests of Ecologistas en Acción environmental group regarding the Cala del Tangó project in Xàbia

Tuesday 7th September 2021 – CARLOS LÓPEZ with Mike Smith

The Ecologistas en Acción environmental group has sent a communique to the regional government’s Department of Territorial Policy in which it makes five demands in relation to the project to renovate the Cala de Tangó which was first revealed exclusively by XAD last week.

Their demands are:

1. that the bidding and assessment process be halted urgently, and the breakwater construction project cancelled;
   
2. that an environmental evaluation report be carried out to assess whether the project directly or indirectly affects the Xarxa Natura 2000 spaces in an appreciable way;
   
3. that a geological study be carried out in which the different erosion factors of the cove are analyzed and solution identified to regenerate it;
   
4. that the Restaurante El Tango be demolished, and the necessary work carried out to regenerate the cove;
   
5. that in the case that the administration does not agree to grant these requests, it at least enables access to the sea for bathers, either by steps from the viewpoint, or by building a breakwater whose characteristics make it compatible with the use of the cove as a bathing area, partially restoring the historical right to bathe in the surroundings of Cap de Sant Antoni.

The environmental group is clearly attacking the 125,000 euro project to extend the eastern breakwater to protect the restaurant located in the area and points out that “from a geological point of view, it would be feasible to regenerate the cove as long as the ravine basis is unlocked, which can be achieved by removing the artificial obstacles built in the middle of the location – by demolishing the restaurant”.

They claim that there has been no environmental impact report made by the competent body, the Wild and Natural Network of the Ministry of Agriculture, a procedure that is at the origin of the delay in the execution of a project declared as emergency works in 2017, and that there exists only “a simplified report made by the General Subdirectorate of Ports, Airports and Coasts” which, amongst other findings, claims that the project would not generate a significant impact on the environment.

In view of this, the Ecologistas en Acción de la Marina Alta considers that the project “directly violates directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats, wild fauna and flora, where the obligation of evaluation is imposed on any plan, programme or project that may directly or indirectly affect in an appreciable way the aforementioned areas of the Natura 2000 Network, either individually or in combination with other plans and projects”.

They go further by claiming that there has not been an environmental impact report on the restaurant concession in the area, a study that would specify the possible adverse effects that the business was having on the environment, and demand that the regional government carries out a “detailed and adequate evaluation of the repercussions of both the breakwater repair project and the concession for the operation of Restaurante El Tangó on the Natural 2000 Network ((ZEPA Montgó -Cap de Sant Antoni, SCI Montgó, Natural Reserve of Cabo de Sant Antoni).

The group also points out that the construction of the restaurant partially destroyed Cala de Tangó and cut off access to the public which makes it impossible for them to enjoy bathing in the Cap de Sant Antoni area. Its construction and subsequent maintenance have hindered an impeded a historical right of the residents of the port area: to bath in the surroundings of Cap de Sant Antonio. Now, to enjoy these special waters as well as the marine reserve, a well of biological and tourist interest, people have to use a boat or head to Rotas de Dénia.

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