Technicians from the Mancomunidad Costa del Sol Occidental will not have the task of clearing floating debris from the sea this year as, for varying reasons, the eight municipalities involved have not requested cleaning boats.
Marbella and Fuengirola have their own cleaning boats and any extra work will, for financial reasons, be undertaken by municipal workers.
Mijas plans to arrange for its own cleaning boat.
Torremolinos, Benalmádena, Manilva, Casares and Estepona have not requested boats on economic grounds. This means that half of the 85 kilometres of coast west of Málaga, an area with a huge influx of tourists during the summer, will not have a cleaning service in operation.
Added to the financial cost of requesting boats from the Mancomunidad, there is also the uncertainty, after changes in the government in Andalucia after the last election, as to whether the three year agreement signed in 2009 relating to the provision and financing of 25 boats in the region will be extended.
Under the agreement, the Junta de Andalucia finances, in theory at least, 60% of the cost of the 25 boats used for cleaning the 181 kilometres of coast in Málaga province. However, in practice, the Junta still owes part of the money from 2010 and owes for the whole of 2011.