Salou. Costa Dorada. 29 May 2020.
The Salou City Council already has everything ready to comply with the regulations that require controlling access to bathing beaches in these times of COVID 19 to ensure the safety distance. This June 2020, the beach gauging control system starts operating, consisting of the installation of 22 smart sensors on 8 beaches and coves in Salou.
The system consists of cameras with sensors that do not transmit or record images, and that only capture movement and transmit the information of the count of people in the sand. Visitors and bathers also have access to this information through the web platges.salou.cat, so that the information can be consulted through a mobile phone.
Specifically, you will see a map where the capacity will be marked on each beach with three colors: green will mean that you can go to the beach; orange that the beach or cove is near the maximum allowed capacity, and the red color will indicate that it cannot be accessed because it has already reached the maximum allowed capacity.
The information regarding the capacity on the beaches will also be received by the Salou Local Police, who may act accordingly in case of non-compliance with safety regulations and if the dissuasive information offered is not respected.
On the largest beaches in Salou, Llevant and Ponent, the City Council has chosen not to install physical separations that delimit the space that bathers can occupy, but instead have created virtual sectors (6 and 5, respectively) that will be controlled with the new smart beach access control and counting system.
According to the City Council, that there are no physical separations on the beaches of Salou will facilitate the cleaning, oxygenation and disinfection of the sand, on a daily basis.
The mayor of Salou, Pere Granados, explained that the implementation of this technological system for counting and controlling access to the municipality's beaches is part of the Council's commitment to achieving the distinction of Intelligent Tourist Destination (DTI). According to the mayor, "Salou has made a commitment to the digitization and application of new technologies in the management of the municipality" and the achievement of the DTI "will facilitate the integration of the visitor in Salou, an important quantitative and qualitative leap, in terms of coexistence with new technologies ”.
In this sense, he recalled that the Generalitat de Catalunya has recently distinguished Salou with the Sóc Smart seal, which accredits the capital of the Costa Dorada as one of the Catalan municipalities that has made a strategic commitment to become a smart city and improve life of its citizens through advanced technology.
But the new system for counting and controlling access to Salou's beaches also appeals to individual and collective responsibility, as the mayor recalled, since "it is essential" that bathers and bathers "once they are on the beach, maintain their safety distance of two meters "and" respect the sanitary recommendations ".
The mayor of Salou was accompanied by the councilmen and councilors Jesús Barragán, from Beaches: Concessions and Authorizations; Julia Gómez, from Playas: Quality and Use Plan; Pedro Madrona, from Playas: Maintenance, Repairs and Adaptations; and David González, councilor for Citizen Security and Mobility.
