Eco-friendly moorings to be installed close to the Isla del Fraile in Aguilas

The special mooring buoys will allow visitors to sail to the island while protecting the seabed of the Águilas coastline

Great efforts are being made at present to increase the tourism and leisure opportunities along the spectacular coastline between the town of Águilas and the imposing headland of Cabo Cope, and the latest announcement from the local Town Hall is that environmentally friendly moorings are to be installed in the sea around the Isla del Fraile.

Aside from being a visually attractive landmark on this spectacular stretch of coastline, the Isla del Fraile is also of great archaeological importance, and recent digs have unearthed yet more evidence regarding the activities of the Moors in tihe 12^th and 13^th centuries and the Romans almost 2,000 years ago on the island.

The “eco-moorings zone”, according to Mari Carmen Moreno, the Mayoress of Águilas, has been approved by the national government Ministry of Ecological Transition, and comprises buoys equipped with floats so that the chains dropped by boats do not drag across the seabed, destroying the Posidonia seagrass. This Posidonia is vital for the maintenance of marine ecosystems in many areas along the Mediterranean coast.

At the same time, of course, the buoys will allow visitors to sail to the island to enjoy their scuba diving and other activities.

Only this week the council has announced that the iconic Embarcadero del Hornillo has been restored to good enough condition to allow guided visits to the jetty for the first time in years (starting on June 3 2003), and plans are also in the pipeline to create a 13-million-euro Marine Species Centre in Águilas on a plot of land occupying 6,000 square metres.

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