Beaches in Spain

The mysterious white particles that were washed in a small section of the Valencian coast of southeast Spain led the authorities to close a handful of beaches on Monday as a caution.

The local administration in Guardamar de la Safor, in the district of Gandia, in southern Valencia, said in a social media post that at least four area beaches would remain closed due to a “possible marine spill that affects our area, with an unknown material present in the sand.”

Initially, the administration urged people not to swim until the material was identified and any risk that presents, but in a subsequent publication, said the beaches would be closed.

The local government said it was in regular contact with the relevant authorities to monitor the sample tests and guarantee public safety.

The photos published by the local authority showed long and undulating lines of small white particles, apparently washed on land by the tide, which seemed to be approximately the size of the rice grains.

They seemed similar in size to the small granules of plastics that are sent worldwide as raw materials to manufacture innumerable family and industrial products, but the Spanish authorities immediately gave any indication of what they believed that the material could be.

The local media Valencia Plaza cited Fuentes with the Port Authority of Valenciana saying that the most significant concentration of the pollutant seemed to be around the mouth of the Serpis River, which flows to the Mediterranean in Gandia, just north of the affected beaches. According to the sources cited by the output, that indicated a possible interior origin of the material.

At least four local beaches on the coast of Gandia closed on Monday, Daimús, Guardamar de la Safor, Bellregued and Miramar.

The affected area is more than 250 miles south of the bustling city of Barcelona, ​​but is located right north of some of the most popular tourist beach destinations in Valencia in the picturesque Costa Blanca.

Valencia Plaza informed that environmental samples, both of the water and the unknown substance, had been collected for analysis from several points along the affected coast.

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