Compiled with the help of artificial intelligence, based on Spanish-language information. Source below the article.
A repeat of serious problems with the sanitation and treatment of urban wastewater has forced the closure of Playa Jardín, the main swimming area in the Tenerife municipality of Puerto de la Cruz. On the morning of Thursday 3 September 2026, the mayor, Leopoldo Afonso, ordered a ban on swimming in two of the three coves that make up the beach: the largest, Punta Brava, and the smallest, El Charcón.
Third contamination episode of the summer
The temporary closure comes after Public Health, the Canary Islands Government department responsible for monitoring water quality around the archipelago’s coastline, detected a new episode of contamination – the third this summer – at these black-sand beaches in the tourist town. Tests carried out on Wednesday 2 September returned levels of Escherichia coli above the legal limit, with 800 units per 100 millilitres recorded against a permitted maximum of 500. The bacterium is commonly found in faecal discharge from urban areas.
This is the second time this summer that swimming has been prohibited in any of the three coves of Playa Jardín. The stretch of coastline, which has long-standing and serious deficiencies in its sewage and wastewater treatment infrastructure, sits immediately next to the Punta Brava neighbourhood and the regional treatment plant. It suffered an identical episode of contamination between 12 and 13 August, when E. coli levels reached 850 units – 350 above the authorised limit.
Earlier closure order ignored
In June, Public Health also requested the closure of one of the coves for the same reason – specifically on 23 and 24 June – but the local government did not enforce the measure, arguing that the manner in which the regional government department communicated the order was not official, lacking both a formal report and an entry register. A report from the Directorate General of Public Health has since revealed that Puerto de la Cruz Council disobeyed this instruction during the San Juan festivities, when thousands of people descended on Playa Jardín to celebrate. The department had previously clarified that the way it issued the closure – by telephone and email – is the same method it uses with all other councils across the Canary Islands in such situations, in line with established protocol.
349 days closed between 2024 and 2025
The worst period for this stretch of the Puerto de la Cruz coastline came between the summers of 2024 and 2025, when Playa Jardín remained closed for exactly 349 days for the very same reasons: raw sewage discharge.
The principal causes are the number of homes in the neighbouring Punta Brava district that are not connected to the mains sewerage system – at least 125 of the 450 properties – together with the deficient operation of the Valle de La Orotava regional treatment plant, which is located in the same neighbourhood and handles wastewater from Puerto de la Cruz, La Orotava, Los Realejos and part of Santa Úrsula. A rupture in the plant’s outfall pipe has compounded the problem.
Residents demand urgent action
The council has informed residents of the latest incident via its official social media channels. “Work is already underway to follow the indications, carry out the necessary checks and adopt measures to resolve the situation and guarantee the safety of users,” it said.
Residents and business owners grouped together under the banner Stop Vertidos al Mar (Stop Dumping at Sea) are demanding the urgent completion of the works needed to put an end to this long-standing problem in Punta Brava. Tania Hernández, one of the group’s spokespeople, warned: “If this does not happen, we are destined to suffer permanent swimming bans at Playa Jardín because of the continuous sewage discharges.”
The platform is calling for the legalisation and refurbishment of the pumping stations, the construction of a new regional treatment plant – on the same site as the current one – and the replacement of a stretch of more than 100 metres of the outfall pipe at the Punta Brava facility. “The work, especially the repair of the outfall, is being delayed far too long,” Hernández criticised.
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