A single road traffic lane, parking areas and trails will be enabled in its southern part.
Diving centers will be able to temporarily access the El Agujero area with vehicles from 08 a.m. to 22 p.m.
The Department of Environment, Climate, Energy and Knowledge of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria is working on the protection and regeneration of the space in the Special Conservation Area (ZEC) of Punta de la Sal, considered a priority area for reproduction, feeding, dispersal and concentration of threatened species of the Canary Islands birdlife.
This area (ZEC 25_GC) is part of the Natura 2000 Network and has four habitats and two species of community interest.
For its protection, the Cabildo is ordering, in collaboration with the Agüimes City Council, the uses of the southern area, corresponding to El Cabrón and El Agujero beach, in the face of the proliferation of waste dumping, the uncontrolled opening of runways, or the presence of vehicles, among other problems detected.
The actions are part of the project called 'Landscape and Environmental Regeneration in the ZEC ES7010052 Punta de la Sal', currently in the drafting phase.
This will enable a single road traffic lane, equipped with sidings and barriers; as well as parking areas, and marked trails. The restoration of areas affected by unofficial roads will also be addressed and ZEC identification panels will be placed on access roads, trails and main tracks.
Meanwhile, and exceptionally, diving centers will be able to access the El Agujero area with vehicles driven on a single track, from 08 a.m. to 22 p.m., so that they can carry out their activity, at the request of the ABUSCAN Association. The rest of the population will be able to access it on foot through the same route.
The Minister of Environment, Climate, Energy and Knowledge, Raúl García Brink, explained that with these measures “from the Cabildo we are protecting an area of high ecological value that is under great pressure from different human activities. At the same time, we understand that environmentally friendly economic activities must continue. For this reason, we are ordering the passage of vehicles to make the conservation of the area and the diving activity compatible.”
All this without prejudice to other relevant authorizations under the jurisdiction of the General Directorate of Coasts and Maritime Space Planning of the Government of the Canary Islands.
“The Cabildo can authorize the passage of vehicles within the limits of its powers and we work aligned with Costas because there is a will on the part of both institutions to provide a solution to this problem,” he added.
In the northern area, a series of coordinated actions have already been carried out with the owners of the Vargas beach area, which included road access tracks and two parking lots.
Special Conservation Area
In the ZEC there are 1.250 cliffs with vegetation on the Macaronesian coasts, 2.110 embryonic mobile dunes and 920 thermo-Mediterranean riverside galleries and the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula.
Among the plant species of interest, there are 1.811 Atractylis preauxiana and 1.666 Convolvulus caput-medusae. There is also the presence of birds that need protection, such as Bucanetes githagineus (A452), Burhinus oedicnemus (A133), Charadrius alexandrinus (A138), Himantopus himantopus (A131).
Taking into account the physical characteristics of the 'Punta de la Sal' ZEC and the distribution of habitats and species of community interest, three different zones are defined: the Priority Conservation Zone (zone A), the restoration zone (zone D) and the transition zone (zone E).
