ECOPLAYAS 2026 opens in La Línea with 117 registered attendees and around thirty exhibiting companies
Topics Diputación Provincial de Cádiz
The Palacio de Congresos de La Línea de la Concepción hosts until Thursday, October 22 the XXIV International Beach Congress ECOPLAYAS 2026, with 117 registered attendees, 29 presentations and an exhibition area of around thirty companies specialising in coastal management.
The XXIV International Beach Congress and Exhibition ECOPLAYAS 2026 is being held in La Línea de la Concepción until Thursday, October 22. The event brings together 117 registered attendees and around thirty exhibiting companies at the Palacio de Congresos, where machinery equipment, adapted bathrooms, robotics, drones and screening machines, among other materials, are on display.
What can be seen
The exhibition area occupies the interior and exterior of the Palacio de Congresos. The programme includes 29 presentations on sustainability and integrated coastal management, spread across Tuesday, October 20 and Thursday, October 22.
On the first day, the head of service of the Beaches department, Rafael Fosela, presented the «Estructuras Generadoras de Vida» of the PREMPPA Project, promoted by the City Council and the Club de Buceo Campo de Gibraltar to recover marine species from accidental fishing. Fernando G. Brun Murillo, professor of Ecology at the Universidad de Cádiz, also spoke, explaining the seagrass meadow restoration project on the La Línea coastline.
The burden of the invasive algae
The congress addresses coastal challenges such as lifeguarding and rescue and waste management, especially waste derived from the invasive algae Rugulopteryx. The deputy mayor and vice-president of the Diputación de Cádiz, Sebastián Hidalgo, has detailed that the provincial institution has been allocating a plan against the Asian algae for five years: more than 600,000 euros to the most affected coastal municipalities in the last year and nearly two million euros accumulated over the five editions for the removal of debris.
The mayor, Juan Franco, has stated that this type of event serves «to compare experiences, see what is done in other municipalities and learn about the experience of private companies». Franco has recalled that La Línea has about twelve kilometres of coastline in Levante and about 500 metres in Poniente.
How to get there
The congress continues until Thursday, October 22 with presentations and the exhibition area open at the Palacio de Congresos. Tuesday's day closed with a guided visit to the town centre at 16.30 hours. The organisation is handled by the Asociación Técnica para la Gestión de los Residuos y Medio Ambiente (ATEGRUS), with the collaboration of the City Council and the sponsorship of the Diputación de Cádiz.