Malaga Playa

I am currently in Malaga. On the morning I left after my last visit, 24th January, it was windy. All planes were slightly delayed as the wind forced times between departures at Malaga airport to be lengthened. What I did not know, was that the wind strengthened during the day of 24th January and finally ended up as the strongest gale along the Costa Del Sol coast for many years. Some trees were uprooted and buildings were damaged. And in particular the beaches were affected with sand being washed away in some places and many stones being deposited on beaches in other places.

I guess this is an example of longshore drift where strong waves at an angle to the shore sweep away stones from one part of the beach and deposit them on another part.

Today in Malaga it was warm and sunny. So I went to the Malagueta beach, the local town beach. This was always a beach which has a line of stones just below the waterline. But now there is a new line of stones about 6 feet up the beach from the edge of the water. Presumably these were deposited by the large waves on 24th January. And apparently the local authorities are to import tonnes of sand to deposit on the beach in time for the main tourist season.

In the meantime, the stones were not a major problem. Especially for me - the water was freezing and I had no intention of going down for a swim. But the evidence of my eyes for theoretical Geography having a practical consequence was interesting.