Residents of Playa Babilonia in Guardamar del Segura have called for a protest on Wednesday, the twentieth of August, in opposition to the planned demolitions of homes set to begin in September. The protest will be a legally sanctioned event, commencing at eleven o’clock from Avenida Ingeniero Codorniu and progressing to the town hall. Activists have engaged in various demonstrations over the summer, including social media campaigns and striking artwork on their homes, depicting ‘broken hearts’ to express their desire to save the historic row of single-storey houses built a century ago along the beach front.

Local residents contend that there is a discrepancy in the government’s application of the coastal law, as it denies extensions for their homes while permitting similar structures in other areas, which reportedly pose a greater risk to coastal preservation. They maintain that their homes, which they view as significant due to their heritage value, should be protected, and advocate for the new Valencian coastal law to be applied in their favour, despite the current lack of authority from the Consell to enforce it.

In contrast, the Ministry for Ecological Transition asserts that the houses contribute to beach regression and insists on the necessity to restore the coastline for the benefit of the public, therefore continuing the coastal dunes and pine forests located behind the housing row. They claim that recent storms have directly impacted these homes, which residents have had to fortify at their own expense.

Approximately sixty-five homes are slated for demolition starting from the fifteenth of September, with residents having to engage private contractors to reduce expenses associated with the removals. They have submitted a request for authorisation to the town hall to carry out these demolitions themselves, raising concerns about the apparent preferential treatment of other properties not facing similar fates.