Rugged beauty draws sun worshippers to Playa El Callao beach just below the rising ridge of Guaza mountain in Los Cristianos. Not everyone takes their rubbish away with them, that´s why Keep It Clean Tenerife leapt into action armed with rubbish sacks, gloves, and bags of enthusiasm.
As a baking hot Sunday morning hit its stride, 58 volunteers covering a wide age range, left no stone unturned to capture an impressive haul of assorted leftovers, they normally scoop up around 100 kilos each event. British founder Tim was chalking up the groups 10 th clean up. “It started just over a year ago when I picked up some rubbish when walking my dog, and its grown from there. We target the coast and have included Abades, La Caleta, El Medano, El Puertito, and Los Abrigos on a roughly monthly basis.”
The key is in the preparation, they set up base camp and welcomed their diverse team including Brits, Spanish, and Dutch. The long handles grabs were useful for the less fragrant deposits, but they didn´t hesitate to delve in along the craggy sides of the rock pool at the Las Tarajales entrance to the beach. The pool showed the diversity of the bathers from scuba fans to swimmers, and there were also a few cans and plastic glasses from social gatherings perched on rocky ledges.
Large plastic water bottles were a perfect home for discarded cigarette ends. Tim explained that they could be recycled by a company in Holland. If that sounds unusual, a haul of old rusty nails and screws was an even bigger surprise. Tims guess was they were from wooden doors and pallets burnt on the beaches during the annual Night of San Juan (23 June) when mid summer bonfires attract large groups to all Spanish beaches.
Two hours of combing the beach significantly reduced thethreat of more rubbish finding its way down into the sea. There are plenty more clean ups planned around the coast, including a big spruce up of the nearby Playa Las Vistas. Volunters are sure of a warm welcome, keep an eye on the Keep It Clean facebook page for full details.