Beauty Spots Saved
July 12th, 2006
The respective mayors of Benidorm, Alfaz del Pi and Altea last week signed a joint agreement with the regional government to protect a total 5,653 hectares of the Sierra Helada abutting Benidorm and Alfaz, as well as 4,920 nautical hectares off the Bay of Altea and the Sierra Bernia mountains. The agreement also covers Benidorm Island, plus smaller islands off the Sierra Helada’s seaward side and Altea’s La Olla beach.
In 2003, Benidorm Town Hall decided of its own volition to reclassify as green zones more than 500,000 square metres earmarked since 1957 for building development. Alfaz Council has reclassified 300,000 square metres of building land adjoining the Albir lighthouse and the La Mina inlets, while Altea has acquired protected status for 4,622,000 square metres of Bernia and 500,000 square metres of the Algar river.
Speaking at the signing, Sr Ortíz said that these initiatives by three neighbouring towns were not ‘idle wagers’ but ‘an unambiguous example of development planning that did not obstruct future progress’. Estéban González Pons, who heads the regional government’s Land and Housing Department, said the Sierra Helada was clear proof that it was possible for a national park to survive side by side with tourism and economic growth.
The Sierra Helada was declared a national park in July last year and over the last 12 months was the most popular in the Valencian Community, with 101,000 visitors viewing it from the land and 30,000 from the sea.
Benidorm, Alfaz and Altea have undertaken to combine efforts to maintain, clean and patrol it both on land and at the sea, assisted by volunteers from the three towns as well as local scuba-diving clubs.
