The Cartagena City Council has deployed an enhanced summer cleaning and inspection operation across municipal beaches, combining overnight heavy machinery with morning and afternoon brigades to manage high visitor volumes. According to municipal officials, the local government aims to maintain high sanitary standards and accessibility across the coastline during the peak summer season.
Operations in La Manga and The Mar Menor
According to statements reported by COPE and Cartagena Diario, the coastal cleaning operation utilizes a precise schedule of mechanical sweeps and manual labor tailored to different coastal zones. In La Manga, two tractors begin clearing beaches such as Levante, Barco Perdido, and Galúa at 22:00 hours. A second group of two tractors starts at 06:00 hours, alternating between La Manga del Mar Menor, Cala Reona, and Calnegre to clear sand and remove accumulations of posidonia oceanica.
In the Mar Menor area—covering Playa Honda, Playa Paraíso, Mar de Cristal, Islas Menores, Los Nietos, Los Urrutias, and Punta Brava—two tractors operate from midnight until 08:00 hours, five days a week. Meanwhile, in the western zone encompassing Isla Plana and La Azohía, a tractor runs daily starting at midnight. In Cala Cortina and El Portús, sand maintenance takes place during morning shifts.
Personnel and Waste Management Figures
Complementing the heavy machinery, direct field crews handle infrastructure maintenance and litter collection. According to municipal data cited by Cartagena Diario, the active workforce includes 20 direct operators and six indirect workers in La Manga, seven operators in the Mar Menor, and six in the western zone. These ground crews handle boardwalk sweeping, maintenance of flexible walkways, continuous checks on footwashes, and the disinfection of 28 toilets and 19 shade structures.
Waste removal statistics for July show high volume handled by the “tracto-basura” truck and utility buggies, which collect an average of nine cubic-meter urban containers daily. This added up to 279 containers in July alone, alongside the extraction of more than 120 cubic meters of debris directly from the sand.
August Shock Plan and Pet Awareness Campaign
To address peak tourism periods, a specific shock plan operates throughout August with dedicated morning and afternoon brigades. According to the deployment schedule, crews focused on Cabo de Palos and Cala Flores between August 10 and 14. Operations move to Islas Menores, Mar de Cristal, Los Nietos, and Nietos Viejos from August 17 to 21, concluding with intensive cleaning across La Manga from August 24 to 28.
Concurrently, the council is running an environmental awareness campaign titled ‘Nuestras mascotas cuentan’ (Our Pets Matter). The initiative deploys mobile information points to distribute explanatory leaflets regarding municipal ordinances and free waste collection bags for pet owners. Stands operate in La Manga del Mar Menor, along the Mar de Cristal promenade, and at the Church Square in Isla Plana.
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