Coast Archives - Page 2 of 2

The coast of Cádiz is crowded in summer. Except an inexplicable beach that has managed to flee from mass tourism

August 26, 2025 by usatoday24

Spain has a vast coastal strip of almost 8,000 km and much of it is formed by sand that every summer becomes Tourist boilersboth from other regions of Spain and abroad. Cádiz knows it well, although the Andalusian province can boast of conserving A (almost) virgin sand that has managed to avoid the traveler boom that saturates the country. His name: Castilnovo. A virgin beach? That’s how it is. That in summer you speak of the beaches and Cadiz coves is no novelty. After all, the Costa de la Luz and the Costa del Sol are two of the most busy destinations by tourists looking for sun and beach in the summer months. What is much less common is to find that one of those sandy sand is an almost virgin natural jewel, free of buildings, bars, hotels and hordes of veraneantes fighting for nailing its umbrellas. It is fair is what the Castilnovo Beach. Castilnovo Beach? His name may not be as known as that of the sands of Bologna, Burriana either Barrosaalso distributed along the Andalusian coast, but during the last weeks the beach of Castilnovo has activated the radar of the National Press and specialized media on trips. And it is logical. Located between the mouth of the salty and conilete rivers, this beach 3,000 meters It is a rare Avis of the Spanish coast, a haven of peace and tranquility that has managed to dodge the tourist boom of other points of the Spanish coast. And how is it? In words From the Conil Tourism Office it is an “extensive virgin beach ideal to enjoy long walks through a unique environment where nature is the protagonist”, a sand tongue of 3,000 kilometers That starts with Conil and ends near El Palmar, in the municipality of Vejer. “Beach of great landscape importance in which one of its most striking characteristics is the absence of constructions,” says the City Council before underline that the area includes dunes and salinas, in addition to cultivation fields, cattle and an “outstanding” variety of insects and birds, such as the SHATP SHAFT. No buildings? A look With Google Maps it shows that the landscape is quite different from that of the neighboring Costa de Sancti Petri. In Castilnovo, between the Palmar and Conil, a strip of fields is extended with hardly any constructions. In fact, the most emblematic is the tower that takes the name of the beach, an Almenara building that dating from the 16th century and is classified as a good of cultural interest (BIC). His aim It was to serve as a surveillance position to anticipate Berber attacks and identify the passage of Atunes. In 1755the same day Lisbon suffered An earthquakea tsamot destroyed part of the structure. Cádiz Diputación itself Highlight that “one of the most striking characteristics” of the beach is precisely that it lacks constructions. “The lonely Almenara Torre de Castilnovo rises on the horizon guarding the beach. A wide plain is extended around it where the crops, livestock land and the wet areas of the riverbank of the river are mixed on the wide surface, beyond the Las Marinas and old saline road dominate the land,” stands out. And how is it possible? Travel guides They usually emphasize that those who want to enjoy Castilnovo must keep in mind before what they will find there: a virgin space in which It is not strange See people practicing sports such as surfing, Windsurf or Kitesurf (even a nudist, although beach It is not cataloged as a naturist), but without the comfort of other sand. Usually The guides They point That has no beach bargain, bars, or nearby services. In some points there is not even coverage. And of course those who want to enjoy the landscape must walk and resign themselves to leave their car At a certain distance. The Diputación remember In addition, at least part of the space is protected by the City of Conil for its environmental importance. Images | Conil tourism, Roberto Vázquez González (Flickr)Google Earth and Diputación de Cádiz In Xataka | The beach of the crystals: Galicia has one of the most fascinating sands in Spain by chance

The poisonous species that reach the coast are the canary in the mine

August 12, 2025 by usatoday24

A few days ago We asked ourselves If the stabilization of the Mediterranean temperature responded to a long -term trend or if it was rather a transitory event, a brief cooling capable of tempering the waters of a sea that is more than one degree above its average for these dates of the year. The latest data remind us that we are facing a long -term problem. Seas tropicalizing. The seas of our environment, such as the Mediterranean or the Cantabrian, are immersed In a process that some already call “Tropicalization”This process refers to a series of changes in marine ecosystems derived from the increase in water temperature in subtropical principles. Starting from the beginning. The planet’s seas are gaining temperature. They do it little by little and irregularlybut some estimates talk about a 0.27 ° Celsius increase By decade on average. According to data C3S (Copernicus Climate Change Service), the month of July was one of the warmest of those that are recorded in regards to the surface temperature of the seas, at 0.12º to beat the record. This increase in temperatures has effects of a very diverse nature. It can affect, for example, marine currents, Arctic ice, or even at the temperature of the atmosphere and air circulation. And in addition, it can also affect marine ecosystems. Visible change. Changes in currents, ice or atmosphere can be difficult to perceive for the human eye, but some of the changes in marine ecosystems, not so much. There is much that occurs under the surface of the sea, but some of these changes have their reflection on our coasts, and that is what we are seeing now, the arrival of new species to our coasts, both sea invertebrates and fish, some of these species, dangerous. It is the example of two of the species we have heard about this summer, the Portuguese caravel (Physalia Physalis) and The blue dragon (Glaucus atlanticus). The Portuguese caravel belongs to the same edge as the jellyfish and can, due to their appearance, be confused with one. However, the effect of its poison goes beyond the efficient effect that jellyfish often causes. Portuguese caravel is part of the blue dragon diet, a mollusk with the ability to “recycle” the poison of its victims and use it as a defense mechanism. Another example of poisonous species that threaten to approach our coasts is The lionfish (Pterois Volitans). It is considered that the path of entry of this fish could be as an ornamental species for aquariumbut there are also those who warn of their possible expansion through the Mediterranean, via the Suez Canal, from the Red Sea. Risk, not only for bathers. The fact that these are poisonous species that can involve serious risks for bathers affected by their toxins, the risk associated with marine tropicalization goes beyond the bites of these animals. Species such as blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), have begun to expand through areas of the Mediterranean, putting local ecosystems in check with its voracity and the absence of natural predators. Algae also does not miss the opportunity to expand their habitat in our waters. The best example of this is Asian algae (Rugulopterix Okamurae), an increasingly present species on our coasts, whose impact reaches disparate coastal strips, From Galicia to Tarifa. The Mediterranean, again burning. We pointed at the beginning that, after a brief impas in which the sea It was close to thermal stabilizationthe Mediterranean temperature has firing again. Although the thermal anomaly of 2.26º has not yet been reached that We saw almost two months agothis anomaly has passed in just four days (from August 7 to 11) from 0.54º to 1.16º, According to data of socib (Coastal observation and prediction system of the Balearic Islands). The “rebound” has been greater in the Western Mediterranean, where in mid -June the thermal anomaly was around 2.65, before stabilizing up to 0.29º. The new increase places the anomaly in 1.27º, almost a degree of increase in days. In Xataka | “The Mediterranean already has only three stations”: the European Observatory of the drought confirms that winter is dying Image | LPT2000 / Tao Taylor

An earthquake has shaken the coast of Almeria. And Middle Andalusia has learned thanks to Google

July 14, 2025 by usatoday24

An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 located in Almeria waters has shaken multiple locations Andalusians in Almería, Granada, Jaén and areas of the Spanish Levante such as Murcia. Along with it, thousands of Android mobile users have received an unknown notification to date: a directly related to the detection of farms. The earthquake. According to information from National Geographic Instituteat 7:13 a.m. on July 14, there has been an earthquake of magnitude 5.4 to two kilometers deep in the corporal of sticks, having special incidence in populations of the Andalusian coast. The consequent replicas have lasted until 8:49, with intensities of 3.4 and 2.7. Local media They report that at the moment there have been no consequences of gravity, ensuring the 112 that “no damage to the region has been notified by the earthquake.” The message. Virtually immediately, Android phones have issued an automatic notification to thousands of phones through Google Play services. This alert is framed within the Google seismic detection system, Shakealert. In it, the estimated magnitude of the earthquake is noticed as well as recommended practices to keep us safe in earthquake cases. Through a map, both the time and distance from the earthquake are shown, with the possibility of consulting the latest updates through the same section. How it works. Google’s Seísos alert System It is more than curious. In the United States (California, Washington and Oregon) uses a network of 1675 seismic sensors to detect tremors and earthquakes. Outside these territories, the seismographs are our own phones through the accelerometer. If a phone detects movement changes that can be interpreted as an earthquake, send a signal to the Google server. At that time, the server combines this signal with that of other phones to try to find out if an earthquake is taking place. In case of determining what is taking place, an alert is sent on two levels. The key to using this system is that it works predictively. In fact, Google warns that these notifications can reach even before the earthquake occurs. The alerts. The network of more than 2,000 million Android devices, according to Google, acts as a minisismographers front capable of giving precise data on the earthquake. In the event that the alert is of 4.5 or higher scale (in MMI scale, no Richter, here is measured in surface perceived, not energy released from the epicenter), a strong sound alarm is sent ignoring the modes not to disturb and lighting the screen. If the alert is of lower magnitude, such as the one lived today, only an informative notification is sent. What about Es-alert. The doubts that have assaulted upon receiving the alarm have to do with the alternative system we have in Spain: Es-alert. Here we have a system with three levels of alert and civil protection as in charge of sending the notification through Cell Broadcast (radio emission without having active mobile data). System Who detects Who sends the alert How the alert is sent You need Internet connection Android Earthquake Alerts System Android phones themselves, through their sensors Google Push notifications Yeah es-alert National Geographic Institute (IGN) Civil defense Radio emission (Cell Broadcast) No In this case, Es-Alert has not worked. The system is active, working, and detecting cases Like fire in Tarragonabut it is Civil Protection who determines the supposed severity of the phenomenon and whether or not notification is to be sent. The legal framework. A Law 17/2015, of July 9, of the National Civil Protection System determines that only the competent authorities can issue official alerts: Civil Protection, Aemet, IGN or the communities and municipalities themselves. Private companies cannot issue official alerts … but they can send private notifications that do not violate any law. That Android informs you about a possible earthquake It does not differ too much than the time app I inform you that it is raining in your area. Google notices do not supply these official notification systems, act as an informative complement to the official framework. Here the debate enters into the own responsibility of a private company to alert the population of a gravity event as an “unofficial” earthquake. One that clashes with the slowness (or direct inactivity according to circumstances) of national systems in specific cases like this. Image | Xataka In Xataka | The ghost of the earthquakes returns to Lisbon: how a savage earthquake in 1755 took the entire city ahead

200,000 abandoned radioactive barrels are sought off the coast of Galicia: we have only found 1,000

June 26, 2025 by usatoday24

The Atlantic Ocean is one of the world’s largest nuclear cemeteries. It is estimated that more than 200,000 barrels with nuclear waste sent to the seabed rest Between 1946 and 1990. The mission to recover them is already underway. First days of work. The French oceanographic ship L’Tarante has begun to work in the search for abandoned drums in Atlantic waters. It arrives with the work of locating some of these barrels and evaluating whether they have caused some kind of impact on marine ecosystems in the area. The team has enforced their work since the first day. According to The local press reportsthe researchers managed to identify the first 1,000 drums and map their location. They have not yet transcended the first images of these barrels. The mission, called Nodssum-I, has an expected duration of one month. The ship arrived a week ago in the area where it will perform its work, located in international waters about 650 kilometers northwest of the coast of Galicia. It is estimated that the more than 200,000 barrels distributed throughout the exploration area are found between 3,000 and 5,000 meters. 200,000 drums. According to Explain the responsible team From the project, barrels contain nuclear residues of low or medium radioactivity. These include sludge, contaminated metal parts, cation exchange resins and even office equipment. In order to resist the high pressures of the ocean fund, these materials would have been encapsulated in bitumen or cement, Add the American Society American. Throughout the years that these waste has passed underwater, their radioactivity would have fallen significantly, it is added from the project. However, some long -term elements could still maintain a good part of this radioactivity. In addition to identifying and locating these barrels, the mission will take photographs of these in order to evaluate their status and integrity. For now the plans do not include the possibility of recovering these barrels. Evaluating the impact. Locating and studying drums is just one of the objectives of the mission. The team will collect water samples, sediments and even marine life to study the presence of radioactive or radiosiopo isotopes in them. Thus they also intend to study the interactions between marine ecosystems and these radioisotypes; Also understand the transport of these atoms in the seabed through processes such as erosion and sedimentation, and also through marine currents. Uly X. For this work the team will feature the instruments aboard L’Anchantante, including a 4.5 meter autonomous submarine called Uly X. This vehicle will allow researchers to photograph and study closely the lost drums in Atlantic waters. Nodssum-i and nodssum-II. The mission of one month of L’Atalante will be only the first part in a project that will encompass two trips to the search area, Nodssum-I and Nodssum-II. For now, Nodssum-II is in the planning phase, but we know of it that it will be a monitoring mission that will take detailed samples thanks to a submarine remotely operated like the Victor ROV, or a minisubmarine like the Nautile. In Xataka | Japan’s energy gauge: after trying to become independent from its nuclear, it has had to back down Image | French oceanographic fleet / Navire Océanographique L’Tarante

Spain has its own Mykonos. And share with her something more than the coast and the wrapped houses: mass tourism

May 27, 2025 by usatoday24

Its wrapped houses, terraces, alleys and landscapes of the Mediterranean coast earned him Binibeca Vell The nickname “Mykonos Español”but over time this small town in Menorca has ended looking to the famous island of the cycles for another different reason: the Tourist saturation. As is the case in the Greek destiny, The town It fills every summer of thousands of visitors, an avalanche that is not always easy to fit in the routine of its neighbors. Hence they have decided to take action. A Spanish Mykonos? Yes. In fact, this informal title is disputed by several locations in the country, such as Frigilianain Malaga, or The Moorish Isletin Almería. Both stand out for their low houses of enchanted facades, narrow alleys, terraces and coastal landscapes bathed by the light of the Mediterranean. Exactly the same as Binibeca Vella small urbanization located in the south of Menorca, within the municipality of Sant Lluís. Its landscapes have made time win the nickname “Mykonos Menorquín” and a hole on the websites of the travel agencies, Blogs And even in The promotion of the Balearic institutions. What is its origin? Binibeca is not only known as “Mykonos de Baleares”. The locals also usually refer to it as “fishing village”, although in reality its origin has little to do with the people who make a living in the Mediterranean. The settlement is located in an old sailor shelter, but what we see today rose in the early 1960s as a residential urbanization driven by the rigger Antonio Sintes and the architect Corsini beardwho were inspired by Greece. The result is a picturesque populated with white houses glued to each other, 165 constructions distributed by an built surface of about 8,000 square meters located in a privileged environment, just in front of the sea. The Binibeca owners community stands out Another of its peculiarities: the settlement is “an urbanization”, “a private property” in which it is the residents themselves who are responsible for paying a fee for the maintenance of the area. And do tourists receive? Yes. Many. The community of owners ensures that in recent years visits “have increased significantly” to overcome the 800,000 annuallya considerable fact if one takes into account that in the area they reside just 200 people And during the winter months that figure is minimized. Maybe this disproportion between the number of residents and the great flow of visitors, but makes enough sense. To start with the tourist success of the Balearic Islands in General and Menorca in particular, which receives each year hundreds of thousands of tourists. Secondly, due to the visibility and promotion of the town, both in the networks and through Agencies, Forums And even Balearic institutions. “If you put the Menorca word on Instagram, of every 10 images that appear, three are from Binibeca Vell,” assured last year to The country Óscar Monge, president of the community of owners. What is coexistence like? If the neighbors of Mykonos island know something (the authentic, the one located in the cycles) is that living in a Mediterranean paradise is not always simple. On the website of the urbanization the residents themselves They recognize That the avalanche of tourists has a direct effect in its day to day, “complicating coexistence.” “Port adventure looks like, but they at least charge you the entrance,” summarize Monge. In practice that translates into dealing with tourists eager to achieve the best Selfie They do not hesitate to sneak into a private terrace to get it. “Tourists touch everything. One of our neighbors has many plants in pots and tourists move them to get a better photo. They sit in chairs in private porches,” explained a few months ago to The Telegraph one of the inhabitants of the urbanization. “They speak very high and the noise resonates because the town is small and closed. They sit on the stairs and, when the owner asks them to move, they refuse because they want to get the perfect photo.” And what have they done? Move token. That Binibeca is a private urbanization with a community of owners, not a real town of fishermen, makes its residents face tourist saturation with a different approach to that of other Balearic residents. Last year The community decreed that would allow visits only in a certain time slot, during the day. The rest of the time the space would remain closed with chains with notices. In The urbanization website A small plane can be consulted in which the visible areas, passage areas and the visiting schedule are detailed, restricted from 10.00 to 22.00 h. There are also certain guidelines for visitors: they are silent, keep the environment clean, not take photos for commercial purposes or inside the houses and, of course, that they do not enter into private homes or feel on the terraces. “When you visit us remember that you have entered a private property and you must respect the privacy of the neighbors,” They underline. Is there more? Yes. In 2023 the community and the Consell de Menorca reached a pact to lighten tourist pressure on the town, which passed among other issues to regulate the arrival of buses or help in the conservation of the area. The agreement It was not renewed However and a year ago the community threatened to go further and Vote the total closure From urbanization to tourism, a drastic measure because the flow of tourists is key to the businesses located in the area. “We pay expensive to be the most popular tourist attraction of Menorca”, Monge lamented. “Binibeca is promoted by the island administration and tourism companies, but what benefit do we get from it? We have nothing against tourism, but sometimes it seems that we live in Disneyland.” Their complaints of 2024 have served for the moment to promote a change in tourists, among which they appreciate (except exceptions) an attitude “a bit more moderate.” And what do they plan to do? A few days ago residents shared with … Read more

China performing real fire exercises in front of its coast

February 28, 2025 by usatoday24

Occurred last weekbut the shock was so great that since then they have not stopped The communiqués happen With diploma doing overtime trying to find a meeting point in what happened. As in TaiwanAustralia found a situation to some excorees last Friday. Suddenly, a fleet of ships Not announced I was doing shooting practices in its waters. It was China, and since then they do not agree. The alarm Last week, a group of Three Chinese warships (A cruise of Renhai classa frigate and a supply ship) entered the exclusive economic zone of Australia Without declaring its purpose (Only 150 nautical miles from Sydney). According to Australian defense minister, Richard Marles, although he was not unpublished at all, was “unusual.” And there was more: on Friday, commercial flights between Australia and New Zealand They had to deviate Suddenly after Chinese ships alert the pilots that flew over an exercise area with real fire. Although it has not been confirmed that the shots occurred on the same day, the New Zealand Navy reported that the next day, on Saturday, Yes there was real fire activity. His Minister of Defense, Judith Collins, He expressed his concernespecially for The lack of communication by China. “Unfortunately, tensions have increased,” he said, remembering the recent launch of a ballistic missile Chinese Intercontinental in the Pacific Ocean. In addition, he admitted that they did not know the next movements of Chinese ships, which has led his government to ask for explanations from the Embassy of the Nation. The concerns. Therefore, and although China did not violate international law, the authorities of both countries have criticized publicly The lack of early warning appropriate. Not just that. The naval episode occurs a few days after an incident between a Chinese hunting and a patrol plane Australian in the South China Sea. Canberra denounced the action as “dangerous and unprofessional”, while Beijing accused Australia of provocation. The Chinese response and the reasons. The Chinese Defense Ministry He rejected the accusations Of both nations, ensuring that they issued multiple security notices in advance and accusing the Australian and Neozyn Governments of “deliberately exaggerating the incident. As for the big question, experts consider this incursion A strategic background. Michael Shoebridge, former Australian defense official, had the Washington Post This week that China seeks to press Australia for His military alliances With Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam, countries that have territorial disputes with Beijing. Plus: China is expanding its influence In the Pacific, trying to consolidate security agreements with small island nations, which worries Australia and New Zealand. In addition, the exercises also demonstrate the growing Chinese naval capacity at a time when it seeks to project more power in the region. China in the area. The presence of Chinese warships in the south of the Pacific adds to a growing militarization of the region by Beijing. In fact, in recent years it has increased His presence near Japanand has done exercises with real fire near Australia or Challenged to the United States In the South China Sea. Moreover, had in Japan Times That the naval deployment in waters east of Australia has lit the alarms in Canberra and Tokyo. According to Andrew ShearerGeneral Intelligence Director of Australia, this is the further incursion ever carried out by a group of tasks of the Navy of the Popular Liberation Army, and its objective seems to be normalizing the Chinese military presence in the region. Evaluate the allied response. It could be another of the hypotheses that some experts point out. Shearer warned That China was not only sending a message to Australia, but sought to evaluate and mold the responses of the countries of the region. According to Euan GrahamAnalyst of the Australian Institute of Strategic Policy, the Popular Liberation Army is calibrating the reactions of Australia and Japan, both key allies of the United States. “The absence of a firm response from Australia or a statement of support from Washington will only be emboldened to China to continue pressing. Its objective is to normalize its military presence in the region and find fissures between the United States and its Pacific allies,” Graham explained. What seems clearly clear is that recent naval exercises with real fire of China, now in the Sea of Tasmania, have relieved tensions in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. Although Australia has no direct territorial disputes with China, her growing naval presence In the region, along with their alliances with the United States and other Asian powers, it seems that they look from Beijing as a challenge to their influence. Image | CCTV In Xataka | First it was a cut underwater cable. 24 hours later Taiwan has found a China Army in front of the island In Xataka | To motivate its Chinese workers, it has opted for a prize. His name is Caracol, and it is a public humiliation

The Coast Guard and the governor of Florida now officially use the Gulf of America

January 23, 2025 by usatoday24

The United States Coast Guard and the Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantisresponded immediately to the president’s executive orders donald trump to deploy assets on maritime borders and use the name “Gulf of America” to refer to the Gulf of Mexico. A press release from the federal maritime agency referred to the Gulf of America when referring to “the maritime border between Texas and Mexico in the Gulf of America.” The Coast Guard is subordinate to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and patrols the Gulf in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Their website still uses the name Gulf of Mexico, but The name change is already being used in its official communications. Ron DeSantis also accepted the name change of the Gulf of Mexico Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also quickly endorsed Trump’s executive order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico. In an order that issued about this week’s winter storm, DeSantis referred to an “area of low pressure moving across the Gulf of America.” But changing the name of a body of water that is an integral part of Florida it might not be so simple. A computer search of Florida laws shows that at least 55 statutes include references to the Gulf of Mexicowhile local government ordinances are also linked to the traditional name. And some of these ordinances are fundamental, since delimit the territory of a countyFor example, as with legal descriptions of gulf front county boundaries from Escambia to Collier, which include references to the Gulf of Mexico, according to CBSNews. Florida lawmakers and DeSantis might have a way to update state laws to change references from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The Legislature regularly passes what are known as “revision bills” that do things like change language in laws. Revision bills generally pass easily without controversy. But Trump’s executive order on the Gulf of America has attracted attention throughout Florida and other parts of the country. President Trump’s executive order instructs the secretary of the Department of the Interior to update federal records and maps to reflect the name change. Keep reading:· Donald Trump promises to recover the Panama Canal and rename the Gulf of Mexico· Who owns the Gulf of Mexico and can Trump really rename it as he proposes?· Sheinbaum responds to Trump and proposes calling the US “Mexican America.”

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