"Is there a beach in Madrid?" is a question that we all know the answer to, with Madrid being possibly the furthest place possible from the beach in Spain. However, all of this could be about to change, as the Directorate-General of Circular Economy in the Community of Madrid has stated that the project to build "Alovera Beach" has been given the green light, as published by La Nueva Alcarria newspaper.
Alovera Beach is intended to be the largest artificial urban beach in Europe and the first for public use located in Alovera (Guadalajara). The project consists of a leisure park, whose main element is a large area of water measuring 20,641.88m2 with a volume of water of approximately 35,500m3, and a bathing and water sports area, surrounded by an urban beach with an area of 16,888.90m2
It should be noted that the aritificial beach will not need to undergo an ordinary environmental impact sssessment as it is considered not to have significant effects on the environment, as can be seen from the project presented by the developer, Rayet Construcción SA. With a budget of more than 15 million euros, the construction group is the only recipient of the project tender opened by the Municipality of Alovera, a small town in the province of Guadalajara in the north-east of the Madrid region.
The group shares the project with Crystal Lagoons, a firm specialised in the construction of artificial beaches all over the world. Crystal Lagoons itself has similar projects in Chile, Mexico, Egypt, Jordan, Panama, Peru, Dubai and Saudi Arabia, as well as participating in a previous similar project in the town of Casares (Andalusia) in Malaga, a large lagoon which covers an area of no less than 1.5 hectares.
Madrid's new beach complex will include a car park, areas for water sports such as sailing or surfing, children's pools, zip-lines and various catering areas. The work will take about a year and a half, although it is not known when the first hands on stages of the project will begin. In addition, more than 300 direct and indirect jobs are expected to be created.
The project will be carried out in two stages: the first is the access level which will include the parking area, entrance, central plaza and some of the main buildings such as access control, administration, shops, offices, changing rooms, lockers, a gym and medical centre. On the lower level, the events area, warehouse, toilets, garden area and the body of water will be developed. The sandy area of the beach, with a slight slope of 2%, will act as a link between these two levels.
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