River trail walk

I celebrated the feast of St Michael and All Angels belatedly at the St Andrew's midweek Eucharist, then chatted with people at the coffee morning, bought some figs, fresh and dried, each delicious in a different way, before returning for lunch. As the weather was reasonably cool, I decided to take another long walk, making my way inland to the far edge of town where the AP-7 toll motorway crosses over the A7053 road up to Alhaurin. The motorway also crosses over the rio Fuengirola at this point, and I'd set my mind on following the riverside path all the way down to the sea.

For most of the year the river inland is dry, although after last Saturday night's heavy rains, there were still large pools of water in hollows and crevices along the bank shaded by huge mature eucalyptus trees, and plenty of fine red mud covering the gravel and pebbles of the river bed. I was surprised at how quiet a walk it turned out to be. In a 5km stretch, I was passed by several joggers and a posse of off road cyclists.

Half way along the trail, the ground level dropped to a point where the water table was above the river bed, filling the river with standing water from bank to bank, hosting dragonflies, parakeets and a family of three very shy egrets that I tracked for a mile without getting close enough for the decent photograph. Down at the mouth of the river, egrets browse at the water's edge, quite indifferent to the proximity of humans ten metres away. I wonder why a change in environment makes a difference to behaviour?

The valley the rio Fuengirola runs through is wide and shallow. For much of the length of the trail, the plain on the east bank is given over to industry: cement works, storage depots, small factories. The west bank still has an extensive area of green pasture land, its subsoil must retain a great deal of water to maintain such a bright colour after a long hot summer. In the hills that are the natural boundary to the conurbation are select urbanizacions with a great view across the bay.

About half way down on the west bank, nestling into the base of the hills, the municipal Fuengirola cementario stands, having been relocated from the centre of town when building expansion took off in the eighties. Its near neighbours are a veterinary clinic and the town's sewage works. Standing as I have done twice in recent weeks, outside the cemetery chapel waiting for mourners to arrive, the odour on the breeze has been most disconcerting. What was the town planner who first thought of co-locating municipal waste disposal facilities thinking of?

Water in the river only moves when swollen by heavy rainfall. Big bursts of torrential rain are the norm here, and everything about the surface environment is constructed to take this into account. At the end of the trail, the waters are contained by a low dam, permitting overflow into a bed of wetland vegetation contained by another dam, from which water can overflow into the Parque Fluvial. 

This, I believe is designed to purify water flowing into the public recreational area. This has wide banks, furnished with amenities for open air sports, on land and water. A canoeing basketball game was being played by four people as I passed.

As I crossed a bridge, photographing river management features I'd not seen before, a man summoned me to his side, and pointed down into turbid waters below. I saw a turtle swimming, then another couple of turtles further away out of range.

Considering all the construction activity going on to complete the second phase of work on the Parque Fluvial, I was amazed by this. I've since found out that sea turtles inhabit Costa del Sol Coastal waters, and as this last stretch of river is open to the sea, this may be a hideaway for them, when they are due to breed.

The last stretch of my journey was along the promenade back to Los Boliches, somewhat slowly, as by now I was feeling pretty tired, having walked a good 15km. During my previous sojourns here I go to know much of the urban area by car. I'm glad to have the time to walk and discover much more about this place and how it has developed in this remarkable past half century.