The Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA), the City Council of Algeciras, and the Vice-Rectorate of the Algeciras Bay Campus of the University of Cádiz held a new meeting today at the UCA-SEA building of the Commission for the Port-City Development of Algeciras. The meeting reviewed the status of the works and projects of the Maritime Lake and the coordination of the planned actions in the Llano Amarillo area.
Phase 3 of the Maritime Lake began on June 22nd, after the opening parade of the Algeciras Real Fair, and corresponds to the section between the area already completed and opened by the City Council in 2024 and the area known as Oasis. In this area, the APBA will plant a total of 94 new trees, including specimens of Morus Alba FruitLess (mulberry), Ginkgo Biloba, Japanese maple, white maple, and date palm. The project also considers the integration of the existing imperial palm and the transplantation of two other palms located in the area, as well as the treatment and integration of the poplar already present in the area of action.
Phase 3 covers an area exceeding 10,000 square meters, combining port and municipal lands, and includes the development of a pedestrian boulevard and a perimeter bike lane of 440 meters in length, which will complete the cycling ring that borders the Llano Amarillo. The APBA awarded the contract to Compañía General de Construcción Abaldo, S.A. for an amount of 1,738,700 euros, excluding VAT, with a execution period of ten months. Along the boulevard, two rows of trees will be planted to create shaded areas next to parking spaces, along with low-growing shrubs with high CO₂ absorption capacity to delimit the bike lane. The section will also feature pergolas, benches, and new pedestrian spaces aimed at improving accessibility and citizen use of the waterfront.
The president of the APBA, Gerardo Landaluce, stated that "the Maritime Lake is one of the major urban transformation projects of Algeciras and an example of institutional collaboration between the Port and the City Council." Landaluce pointed out that the objective of the works is to return to citizens "new quality public spaces, greener, more accessible and better connected with the waterfront." The port president also acknowledged that such large-scale actions "generate temporary inconveniences, especially regarding mobility and parking," and indicated that the APBA is working to minimize them with measures such as opening the provisional area to the north of the Llano Amarillo.
To compensate for the reduction of parking spaces on Virgen del Carmen Avenue due to the works, a parcel located to the north of Llano Amarillo, with capacity for 200 vehicles, has been open since the afternoon of July 3rd. The planned closure calendar for weekends in July has been modified, so the parcel will remain operational every day until its closure on Thursday, July 30th at 14:00 hours. From that date, it will be used for the Operation Step of the Strait (OPE) during the weekend of the highest expected influx, the first of August, established by the OPE Steering Committee. Its reopening will occur once the critical days have passed.
The Commission has also analyzed the status of Phase 2 of the Maritime Lake, which the APBA is executing on the northern front of the Llano Amarillo and in the existing corridor between the UCA-SEA building and the area of the flamingo children's park and the outdoor auditorium that the City Council opened in 2024. This phase, awarded to SATO, has an investment of 5,576,207 euros plus VAT, an execution period of 18 months, and a scope of 16,091 square meters. The works include the construction of the new closure of the northern front of the esplanade, involving the extraction of sands and sludge from the area of the work, and the use of anti-turbidity barriers to contain sediments and avoid impacts on the marine environment.
In parallel, SATO is manufacturing in situ Coastalock ecological concrete blocks from ECONCRETE, pieces designed to create intertidal habitats on maritime fronts. This phase also includes the creation of more than 1,300 square meters of green areas, with 163 trees and over 1,600 shrubs, alongside pergolas, benches, trash cans, fountains, a cafeteria area, the extension of the bike lane, 10,648 square meters of pedestrian zones, a marine-themed children's play area, a physical maintenance area for seniors, and sports facilities. Between both phases, the APBA maintains a global investment close to eight million euros in port-city actions over more than 26,000 square meters.
The Commission has also addressed the Clean Water Objective project that the City Council of Algeciras is executing, with an investment close to 30 million euros. Among the actions already carried out through Emalgesa are the elimination of wastewater intrusions into the Miel River bed and the removal of sediments deposited for more than fifty years in its northern diversion; the elimination of the pumping of wastewater from Conference Bridge number 2 to prevent discharges into the dock next to the Central Access to the Port; and the reorganization and separation of rainwater from Italia Avenue of San José Artesano and La Ermita that run under the knot of the Northern Access to the Port of Algeciras. Actions have also been carried out to eliminate incursions into the Saladillo stream, which discharges into the Varadero dock, and the expansion of the Saladillo-Varadero wastewater pumping facility.
In addition, the pilot project of the Wetland Park has been launched on the Paseo de la Cornisa, a nature-based solution that reuses gray waters from IES Torre Almirante and has been recognized in the Global Water Awards as "Wastewater Project of the Year 2026."
