Else Beekman
A Valencia beach has suffered a significant loss of sand despite recent regeneration efforts. Less than two years after the Spanish government carried out extensive and expensive works to restore the coastline, some areas have already lost up to 15 metres of sand.
Satellite images from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 reveal the scale of coastal regression on Garrofera beach. This beach is located south of Valencia city. The loss is particularly visible around the former Sidi Saler hotel. A comparison between images from 26 June 2023 and 15 July 2025 show a clearly visible retreat of the shoreline.
According to Juan Soria, Professor of Ecology at the University of Valencia, natural erosion and storm activity have reshaped the coastline. He noted that a step, once hidden beneath the waves, is now exposed. “That submerged step was within the water after the regeneration. Now it’s visible on the beach,” said Soria in Las Provincias, adding that levelling the slope mechanically could improve safety and accessibility.
A short-lived solution?
The beach was regenerated in November 2023 with tonnes of sand, as part of a government initiative that saw an average extension of 120 metres across affected areas. An additional 45 to 50 metres of sand was added to absorb tidal effects and allow the shoreline to stabilise. However, in some places, the sea has already claimed a third of this buffer.
Soria’s research team at the Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva previously warned that beaches in Pinedo, El Saler, and La Garrofera had lost 70% of their sand since the 1990s, dropping from 170 hectares to just 43 by 2022. The 2023 regeneration temporarily boosted this figure to 112 hectares along a seven-kilometre stretch of coastline.
Long-term outlook
In 2024, Greenpeace issued a report forecasting the disappearance of 22 Valencian beaches by 2050. Of all beaches in the region the organisation expected those in the province of Valencia to be worst off. If predictions hold, beaches such as El Saler and El Perelló could lose a further 12 metres within the next six years, despite ongoing restoration works.
Government response
On 12 May 2025, the Government Delegation in the Valencian Community issued a statement. Herein it reaffirmed that the beaches evoluted within expected parameters. José Rodríguez Jurado, the sub-delegate for the province of Valencia, cited measurements taken near the Gola de Puchol. There, the beach had shrunk from 61 to 53 metres. “The regeneration plan anticipated this,” he stated.
Rodríguez Jurado highlighted that the nearly €30 million investment went beyond simple sand replenishment. It included dune restoration and the extension of breakwaters to protect the beach from future erosion.
Expansion of Valencia port spells dramatic loss of Albufera beaches