The Sands of Time

lain buried for 50 years

The works on the new promenade by the Poniente beach in Benidorm have uncovered over 80,000 cubic metres of sand which has lain buried for 50 years. The last time it saw the light of day knitted trunks and ruched halter neck cozzies were all the rage on the beach and factor 2 sunscreen was what big softies used.

The problem today is what to do with it all the old sand. First it has to be processed to pass today's stringent regulations and quality controls. You can't just lie on any old sand in 2008, it has to be rigorously checked for granularity, colour and oxygenation. And all the bits of the old promenade have to be removed as well!

Once done, the sand will be used to beef up beaches that have lost sand during the off season and Les Deveses beach in Denia looks favourite to get it as it's around 400,000 cubic metres short.

3 March 2008 Stephen White.