Costa Tropical sea festival returns this week after three-year break

After a three-year break, this Friday and Saturday 6 and 7 October the Festival del Mar returns to La Herradura (Granada province) with a full programme of fun and educational activities connected to the sea, organised by the town’s Amigos del Mar Costa Tropical association.

The event starts at 5pm on Friday with a round table event at La Herradura’s civic centre. A panel of experts from science, government, education, fishing, diving centres and water sports centres, commerce and hospitality will be working together towards a common objective: “to ensure the sustainability of our coast,” said organiser Anne Zipse.

Anne explained that this year’s theme is A Sea of Hope, “because it is focussed on making known to the public the incredible value of the Alborán Sea and the fact that it has been declared a Hope Spot by the Mission Blue foundation, an initiative of the famous oceanographer Dr Sylvia Earle".

“We realised that nobody knows about the international recognition of this very special sea that bathes our coasts from the Strait of Gibraltar to Almeria, and our neighbouring countries Algeria and Morocco. It is an area vital to the health of the ocean, in much need of spotlight so that more people get involved in protecting it and working towards sustainable activity,” Anne explained.

The round table will focus on what each of the participants is able to contribute and the Amigos del Mar association hopes this will be “the start of a medium to long term collaboration between all stakeholders ready to get involved in a sustainable coast”.

“The importance of bringing in the international organisations is to raise awareness that this area is not just important for the people who live in it, but also for the ocean as a whole, for the health of the planet. We want to bring in a broader perspective of how important it is to take care of the Alborán Sea and the species inhabiting it,” Anne said.

“We are all responsible for it together and with each person taking a small step in their own area, we can do it. The news coming from the ocean is usually depressing in the last years. But there is still hope for the ocean! And that hope is us. To quote Dr Earle: ‘one person can’t do everything, but everybody can do something’”, she said.

The programme for Saturday starts at 10am when people can sign up for a series of activities including kayaking, paddlesurfing and sailing. There’s also a series of workshops on biodiversity, waste and coral as well as face painting. At 2pm participants are invited to share a giant paella and there is a vegetarian option. The event will carry on into the afternoon with a prize-giving ceremony and live music.

For a full programme and further information see: Facebook – Asociación Amigos del Mar Costa Tropical.