Malaga will clear more than 200 points along watercourses by November to help prevent possible floods

Few policies have proved to be as important in Malaga as those relating to the prevention of floods. The weather model of extremely dry periods followed by torrential rains, triggered by aggravating factors such as the increase in seawater temperatures, has become the norm in both the province and its capital, which obliges the city council to take specific measures in watercourses and streams to prevent floods.

For this reason, the municipality has activated a cleaning plan, which should cover more than 200 sites by mid-November. Through its department for operational services, beaches and festivities, the city council will carry out clearing work at the points along watercourses listed by the civil protection service. Councillors Teresa Porras and Mercedes Martín visited one of those points on 4 August - the San Julián stream in Churriana.

A maximum of 726,000 euros are allocated for this action - an investment to be repeated every year. The work includes: collection of solid urban waste (rubbish, objects, furniture, electrical appliances, clothes, fabrics, household goods, vehicles or parts of them, rubble, etc.); removal of dead animals; clearing of undergrowth, removal of bushes, tree branches and even entire trees; drainage, levelling and removal of accumulations of sand or soil; shaping, conditioning and raising of the sides or banks of rivers and streams; repair of filters and absorbers; removal of small constructions and/or non-operational or disused installations.

These tasks will be potentially complemented by lowering, stabilisation, oxygenation, sieving and sponge work at the outlets into the sea and at beaches.

Prior to these actions, in order to avoid the protected flora and fauna and the registered cat colonies from being affected by the maintenance work, the company Malagueña Forestal, S.L. will carry out a preliminary inspection of all the sites where action is to be taken.

The company awarded the three-year contract, worth 2,178,000 euros (IVA sales tax included), is Hermanos Pérez Garrán, S.L.

During the past year, clearance tasks were carried out at more than 360 points in rivers and streams within this plan. In addition to those initially foreseen in the civil protection document (303), which serves as the basis for the plan, the locations proposed by the prevention service (59) were added after the heavy rains recorded in the city in October and November 2024.