ARCHIVED - Benidorm to restrict sunbed numbers on its Costa Blanca beaches
Sunbed numbers will be cut by almost half to keep the beaches in Marina Baixa, Alicante province, Covid safe.
As part of Benidorm's 'Safe beaches for all, every day' plan, a daily maximum of 3,500 sunbeds is being proposed across the resort's coastline from July 1 to September 30.
This is almost half the normal 6,315 allowed on the main beaches, Levante, Poniente and Mal Pas, which have already been divided into plots for a maximum of four people and authorised accesses created.
Dozens of 'tourist informants' have also been hired to offer assistance, monitor compliance of Covid measures and help safeguard the Benidorm coastline this summer ahead of a much-anticipated influx of both national and international holidaymakers.
"From minute one of the pandemic we have been working on the beaches, and developed a system in June 2020 which saw the reopening of the sands to the public, producing highly satisfactory results which adapt at all times to the (health) situation," said the local authority.
Around 2.5 million people visited Benidorm's beaches - which boast Blue and Qualitar flag awards - between mid-June and October last year, despite Covid restrictions, with peaks of more than 43,500 people in a single day.
The proposal to cut sunbed numbers will be ratified at a plenary meeting of the town council on Monday, June 28.
IMAGE: Ayuntamiento de Benidorm