According to the latest announcement by the Minister of Environment of the Junta de Andalucia, José Juan Díaz Trillo, the contract for the sewage plant will be put out to tender ‘before the end of October’.
However, after 40 years of delays, blunders and numerous administrative, judicial and bureaucratic wranglings, I doubt anyone is holding their breath, unless they are walking down calle Carabeo.
The sewage plant was at this same stage two years ago, the Junta de Andalucia giving the go-ahead to the draft project, only for the Department of Coasts to object to one of the collectors being located offshore at Burriana beach. This collector has now been deleted from the plans, although an alternative solution has yet to be found.
It always seems strange that there would be an objection to a sealed pipe carrying residual waste safely past and away from the area yet no objection to the actual dumping of said raw waste at the same point.
The plant, should it ever be completed, involves a predicted investment of €32.7 million and will eventually cover, although not literally we hope, a population of 100,000.
The station will have capacity to treat an average daily flow of 25,000 cubic meters. The works include the filter, collectors, two pumping stations and an underwater outfall.