Overview

• Conselleria de Medio Ambiente has banned swimming at Port Saplaya, Playa dels Peixets and Alboraia’s dog beach and closed two-thirds of Meliana’s coast after tests on August 9 recorded fecal bacteria levels over twice EU safety limits.
• A Generalitat Valenciana commission identified surplus irrigation channel discharges from unsewered homes as the main contamination source with secondary focus on caravan and informal settlement wastewater.
• Authorities are conducting extensive laboratory analyses and mapping acequia networks to trace how agricultural runoff reaches the beaches.
• Acció Ecologista-AGRÓ and Per L’Horta recommend segment-by-segment inspections of irrigation channels and targeted sewer connections to eliminate persistent ‘puntos negros.’
• Remediation is hampered by a 2021 Fiscalía ruling that declared acequia chlorination criminal and by protected-zone restrictions that complicate natural depuration installations.