Matalascanas

Matalascañas or Torre de la Higuera is a coastal town belonging to the municipality of Almonte in the province of Huelva, southwest of the autonomous community of Andalusia, in Spain. It is completely surrounded by the Doñana National and Natural Park, to which it causes serious environmental damage. closest to Seville (64 km), about 99 km by road (70 minutes). It receives approximately 150,000 vacationers per year. The urbanization consists of two churches, a health center open all year round and first-aid posts during high season, four pharmacies, a city bus and a stop for intercity buses with connections to Huelva, Mazagón, Palos de la Frontera, Almonte and Seville. In summer, connections increase to nearby municipalities in Huelva County, such as La Palma del Condado, Rociana del Condado, Paterna del Campo-Villalba del Alcor and Escacena.

This urban nucleus has generated environmental problems for the Doñana Park due to the overexploitation of aquifers. Given the inaction of the Spanish authorities, in 2019 the Court of Justice of the European Union denounced Spain for infringing the Water Framework Directive for the extractions destined for Matalascañas and for strawberry cultivation.

Etymology

Although the exact origin of the name is unknown, Matalascañas probably comes from a contraction of "mata de las cañas". A "mata" is a portion of land populated by trees of the same species, while "cane" refers to the erect and elongated stems of certain plants, such as rushes, which are used as natural fibers in cordage. This is because lagoons can be found in some dunes and corrals in the coastal areas of Doñana or temporary marshes in which bulrush grows, that is, sedges (mainly, Juncus acutus, J. maritimus, J. effusus, J. conglomeratus and Scirpus holoschoenus). Therefore, probably Matalascañas was previously a "place populated with reeds."

It is worth mentioning that on the Costa de la Luz there are other beaches whose local name refers to the bushes present there, such as the Mata Negra beach, in Punta Umbría or the Mata del Difunto beach, also in Almonte.

History

In 2021, an ephemeral site was found on the beach with the footprints of the oldest hunter-gatherer Neanderthals in the world (106,000 years), who inhabited the Doñana area.

The beacon tower of Matalascañas (Torre de la Higuera, colloquially known as El tapón) was ordered built by Felipe II in 1577 to defend the coast from Barbary incursions that used to attack ships or the fishermen who worked in the area. Five of these towers were built from Sanlúcar de Barrameda to Mazagón. Although the most accepted theory is that it was demolished by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, the Almonte researcher Javier Coronel demonstrated in 2016 that "the tower had already fallen 12 years before the tsunami". It is currently face down in the sea a few meters from the shore; the rest of the towers (San Jacinto tower, Zabalar tower, Asperillo tower, Carbonera tower and Oro tower) are also in a dilapidated state.

Marismas in Doñana.

Despite facing the sea, the extensive territory of Doñana is little transformed and inhabited by humans, partly due to its inaccessibility. For this reason, it is one of the most valuable coastal natural areas on the European continent.

Before Matalascañas existed, it was already common for residents of towns like Almonte or Pilas to visit its beaches in summer. They moved to small ephemeral constructions made of cattail, typical of Doñana, to spend the summer.

In 1924, the German archaeologist Adolf Schulten approached the area where Matalascañas would later exist to search for ruins from the Tartessian culture and the mythical Atlantis (specifically in Cerro del Trigo and Punta Malandar). Although his expedition failed, he found several Roman sites and a salting factory from the III century, which evidenced fishing activity in the area since that time.

During the Franco era, eucalyptus was planted to boost the timber industry, and it is currently an invasive species in the area. In addition, several marshes were dried up and the course of rivers was modified. In 1940, the Marqués de Bonanza sold the lands of the Doñana reserve to Salvador Noguera Pérez and the Marqués del Mérito. Marqués de Mérito and Mr. González-Gordon, sold 700 hectares of Doñana (a 7 km strip of coastline) to the company HIRTA S.A., run by Mr. René Gordon. The history of Doñana and Matalascañas is linked to the González-Gordon family. Gordon, traditionally dedicated to the wine cellars of Jerez. It is worth noting Mauricio González-Gordon who defended the natural conservation of Doñana and donated land to the Government for the creation of the national park (1969).

In 1966 the Management Plan for the urbanization of Matalascañas was presented. It was declared in 1968 as a National Tourist Interest Center by the Ministry of Information and Tourism, a fact that supported and strongly promoted the project, whose execution began in 1972. However, the oil crisis of 1973 stopped the process.

The water supply was made from the aquifers of the Park, and the construction of the road constituted a very harmful barrier to the fauna of this protected space. In addition, the existence of this urbanization, at the time of its failure, created expectations and encouraged the creation of new projects on the coast, such as the well-known “World Hotel”, which provided for a city of 32 000 inhabitants between Matalascañas and Mazagón, which was succeeded by another initiative: “Costa Doñana”, of similar proportions.

Institute of Statistics and Cartography of Andalusia (IECA)

In 1973 the Fishing Club was created, later Club Náutico y de Pesca de Matalascañas.

In 1974 the film The Wind and the Lion was recorded in Matalascañas, due to its arid landscape of dunes. This fact motivated many others to be filmed in the area: My beautiful legionary (1977), Montoyas y Tarantos (1989) and scenes from the series Curro Jiménez (1976-1978). Since 1980, Matalascañas has been presented at the Madrid International Tourism Fair (FITUR) under the name "Matalascañas-Almonte".

In 2013, Matalascañas had 2,583 legal inhabitants, which in summer multiply to nearly 100,000.

In July 2017, one of the worst forest fires that the area has ever experienced occurred, with around 8,500 hectares burned, cutting roads and isolating the thousands of vacationers who were in Matalascañas at the time (see: Fire forest of Doñana of 2017). 88% of the burned area was protected. It was said that reforestation would begin in 2019, although the Junta de Andalucía has not published any plan for it.

In 2018, the Almonte city council, chaired by Rocío Espinosa (PSOE) approved a change in the General Urban Planning Plan (PGOU) of Matalascañas, allowing between 50 and 100% more hotel beds to “give a promotion of tourist activity through the expansion and requalification of hotels".

Ecological footprint, corruption and other controversies

Ecological footprint in Doñana

The construction of this urbanization in the 1970s was a fatal injury for Doñana, classified as one of the most valuable natural areas in the world. Until then, the natural resources of the park were exploited but in a sustainable way, which has allowed its conservation. With Matalascañas and the cultivation of strawberries, human exploitation of the area has become unsustainable. The aquifers that guaranteed the natural life of the park are being depleted and/or contaminated. In addition to the water problem, there is the necessary infrastructure to connect the nucleus, such as the A-483 and A-494 highways. The heavy traffic on these roads is the reason for running over Iberian lynxes (the emblematic animal of the park and a critically endangered species). The running over of fauna has been limited in recent years thanks to the correct fencing of the park in 2007, which, however, was controversial when it began to be built. Several flyovers for fauna have also been built on the road.

The WWF denounced Spain before the Court of Justice of the European Union for the "excessive extraction of groundwater", which mostly goes to irrigate the hundreds of lawns, gardens and swimming pools in Matalascañas, a dry area that It is in the process of desertification. The Court's ruling, published on January 24, 2019, leaves no room for doubt: it recognizes the "serious damage to biodiversity" in the face of the total inaction of the Spanish authorities, local councils and the Junta de Andalucía. WWF recommended close the illegal water intakes and implement a plan for the intakes dedicated to Matalascañas, something that is not planned to be done.

Since 1989, both technical reports and scientific studies have shown the alarming decline in the level of the water layer produced by the extraction of groundwater for the supply of the urbanization of Matalascañas.

In the summer of 2022, all of the Doñana marshes dried up, even those that used to be permanent, and the first trickle of water in the park did not sprout again until September 1, at which time vacationers left Matalascañas and returned to their cities. A scientific study showed that by closing two of the five legal wells that feed the urbanization with groundwater (121 liters / second), the water table of the wetlands would rise up to 1.3 meters.

Marine museum in ruins

The Museum of the Marine World, located in the middle of the Matalascañas dune park, was inaugurated in 2002 by Manuel Chaves González, and closed in 2012 due to lack of funds. Its construction had an investment of more than 6 million euros. The year before its closure, the Museum had a debt with suppliers of €187,000, as well as a large number of structural deficiencies that endangered the safety of users and workers. The Junta de Andalucía has completely ignored the building, which is still standing today, looted and in a dilapidated state, in the middle of a protected natural space.

Golf course, drought and corruption

The Almonte City Council, the main owner of the Matalascañas golf course, inaugurated it as "the first ecological golf course in Spain", since it irrigated its courses with reused water. However, the University of Huelva announced, after its own study, that "the accounts do not come out in relation to the fact that this field uses 100% recycled water for irrigation", since "the purification of the municipal wastewater cannot to treat the 700,000 m³ required by the 60 hectares of the sports complex". 27 of Donana.

At the end of 2016, the company that leased the course, Doñana de Silva Golf SLU (DSG), announced the closure of the course due to the "poor quality of the water" provided by the City Council. The mayoress of Almonte, Rocío Espinosa (PSOE), confessed in a public intervention that "the field never had an irrigation permit." DSG announced in 2019 that the Matalascañas Golf Course was going to be auctioned due to non-payment by the City Council, whose debt with DSG amounts to €800,000. In addition, the course has suffered several looting since some neighbors have observed people leaving the place with "golf clubs, printers and other objects". As of 2022, the Matalascañas golf course is abandoned and "is a dry land".

Accesses

The access roads to the town are very limited due to the proximity to the national park. The only two roads are:

• A-483: from El Rocío, Almonte, Bollullos and Seville
• A-494: from Huelva and Mazagón

Beach

The length of the urban beach is 5.5 km. The coast of the entire municipality of Almonte consists of 50 km. Matalascañas beach offers fine-grained white sand, which varies in density between the areas of Torre la Higuera and El Coto (next to the Doñana National Park). It is endowed with hotel facilities, leisure areas and semi-virgin beaches, being one of the longest on the Costa de la Luz.

Thanks to its environmental quality, the European Foundation for Environmental Education has awarded it 16 consecutive blue flags (from 1994 to 2009). The Almonte City Council dedicated the beach roundabout (a roundabout in the center of Matalascañas) to the blue flags that its beach had received.

Sectors

Sector K.

The urbanization of Matalascañas is divided into neighborhoods called sectors. These are named alphabetically from west to east from the 'A' to the 'A'. to the 'T' (except the Ñ). Subsequently, each neighborhood was assigned a word whose initial coincided with the letter of the sector.

To the east of Matalascañas there are seven other sectors that form the urbanization Caño Guerrero and that are named after the 'a' to the 'g'. They are administered by the Almonte City Council jointly with Matalascañas.

The sectors of Matalascañas and Caño Guerrero:

• Sector A - Ánade Real (Central Zone). Known popularly as the Centre, it is the most popular area of Matalascañas especially for its nightlife thanks to its many bars, discos, restaurants, pubs, shops, and for being at the entrance of the municipality.
• Sector B - Brazo de la Torre.
• Sector C - Cerceta
• Sector D - Dehesa de las Marismas
• Sector E - Enea
• Sector F - Flamenco
• Sector G - Gallareta
• Sector H - Hawk Peregrino
• Sector I - English
• Sector J (Golf Courses)
• Sector K - Junco
• Sector L - Laguna del Sopetón
• Sector M - Malvasía
• Sector N - Nutria
• Sector O - Ostrero
• Sector P - Palmito. It is one of the sectors with more buildings of height of Matalascañas, in which we can find two commercial areas and a multitude of bars and restaurants in the area of the promenade.
• Sector Q - Quercus
• Sector R - Retama
• Sector S - Somormujo (Industrial Polygon)
• Sector T - Torre Zalabar
• Sector a - Classroom
• Sector b - Boliche
• Sector c - Calamon
• Sector d - Dunas
• Sector e - Eucalyptus
• Sector f - Fumarel
• Sector g - Imperial Garza
• Dunar Park of Matalascañas

Map:

It shows the sectors of Matalascañas

Tourist spots

Fig Tree Tower

A tourist element and reason for visits is the Torre de la Higuera (also Torre la Higuera, Torre de Almenara or la piedra), a beacon tower ordered to be built by Felipe II in the XVI century as a military defense. Today it lacks a military function, however it is the symbol of the town together with the Iberian lynx. The tower is located in the sea about 50 m from the coast, capsized and reduced to ruins by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 that affected the entire area creating a tsunami. It is considered as Spanish Historical Heritage. It is also known as "la Peña", "la Roca" or "The Stopper".

Lighthouse of Matalascañas.

Doñana Dune Park

Doñana's Dunar Park (also known as Almonte ) consists of 130 hectares and is located on a fixed Dunar banks. The park opened in 1992 in order to create a green space, minimize the impact of the city in Doñana and create a place to be able to perform coastal hiking. The park also has an area for picnics, camping, parking lot, a point of information and you can take a walk through the desert dunes in dromedarium (tours of the dunes known as " African airs "), as well as a equestrian center in which they reserve Horse walks to Doñana. Within the park, they are, apart from the museum, the Yacht Club, the Lighthouse and the Ciecema Center (Center for Environmental, Ecological and Biological Research).

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  The varnish, the most widespread plant in the dunar park

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  Camariña in fruit.

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  Curruca.

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  Rabilargo in Doñana.

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  Ranked lizard.

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  Labyrinth.

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  Black Jag.