Surveillance is the watchword at the seaside this summer, with Spanish
beaches using drones, cameras and coloured tape to ensure safety for tourists
holidaying in the shadow of the virus. 

Although the pandemic is now well under control, Spanish resorts are gearing
up for a summer with a difference, with a host of precautions to keep
beach goers safe. 

Over the curve of the bay in the northeastern resort of Lloret de Mar, a
drone lazily flies overhead, the eye in the sky keeping a close watch to ensure
there’s no overcrowding. 

The aim is to “find the balance between
people being comfortable and relaxing while ensuring a safe environment”, says mayor Jaume Dulset.

At this resort some 70 kilometres (45 miles) up the coast from Barcelona,
the town hall has drawn up plans to reassure tourists in the wake of the
pandemic which in Spain has claimed more than 28,300 lives. 

Always full in summer, its beaches are being partitioned off, with cameras
and sensors transmitting real-time information to potential visitors via an
app.

With more municipal staff to flag up any non-compliance, they are also using
drones that can play recorded messages about social distancing should they spot
overcrowding. 

There’s also a scheme for reserving areas on the sand — which would be
easier to manage than a free-for-all — but for now, that won’t be activated at
this resort which is popular with British and French tourists for its
family-friendly atmosphere and vibrant night-life. 

Saving the summer 

For now, only a handful of beachgoers are setting out towels and adjusting
sunloungers on this kilometre-long (half-mile) beach which can accommodate up
to 15,000 people.

“Normally we would be full by this point but for now, there are very
few people so it’s easy to respect the security distance,” explains
78-year-old Jose María Quicio. 

He and his wife Olga, 81, have set up folding chairs a few metres from the
shore inside a red cordon roping off space for those over 70.

“This is our area,” say his wife after coming back from a dip in
the sea. 

“It makes you feel safer, it’s good, better than before.”

About 50 metres away, a lifeguard sits on his watchtower, wearing sunglasses
and a fabric mask. 

As well as his normal duties, he must also watch for anyone flouting the
distancing norms as well as disinfect the toilets and the first aid posts.

“Our first priority is ensuring no one drowns. But from now, we’re also
helping out with the rest,” explains lifeguard coordinator Joel da Silva.

The town hall’s plan involved training 8,500 workers in how to ensure health
and safety in such places as well as in restaurants, hotels and
nightclubs. 

“There’s a lot of uncertainty but we’ve done our homework, we are ready
for the tourists to arrive and we’re waiting for them with open arms,”
says Dulset.

“We’re hoping we can save the season.”

Sectioning-off
the sand 

Like Lloret, many resorts have developed strategies for avoiding a surfeit
of sunbathers along Spain’s 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) of shoreline — a
refuge for millions of tourists from Spain and beyond. 

And the measures are manifold: from sensor-controlled access which can be
shut off when capacity is reached, to sections parcelled-off for groups, to
banning games taking up too much space or involving a lot of people. 

And there’s the job of disinfecting sunloungers and parasols.

“The way we go to the beach this year has changed but that doesn’t mean
we can’t enjoy it,” says a promotional video for Benidorm, a southeastern
resort hugely popular with British tourists.

Its two main beaches have been divided into lots measuring four square
metres (43 square foot) which beachgoers can reserve through an app. 

But the system hasn’t yet been used given the lack of visitors to this town
that last year counted 16 million overnight stays.