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The coastal authority is planning to create an artificial beach in Soller, where at the moment there are only rocks. Technicians have divided the port into three areas, where the beach is losing sand or where it has already disappeared. The first of these areas goes from the mouth of the Sa Figuera water course to the centre of the Traves, where the beach gradually becomes narrower and finally disappears. The second area is from there to the dock while the third is from the dock to the Monaco and the mouth of the Torrent Major. The most important problems to be solved in these three areas are the partial destruction of the container walls, the narrowness or the non existence of the beach, difficult access to the sea because of the tram lines and the impossibility of strolling from one end of the beach front to the other. The plans include creating an artificial beach 12 to 15 metres long which will involve dredging 30'000 cubic metres of sand from the seabed off Banyalbufar. To prevent the loss of this sand, an underwater pontoon about 100 metres long will be built 130 metres of the coast, and running parallel to the coast. The experts see this as the only feasible solution. At present much of this area is taken up by artificially placed rocks which will be removed, to create a 12 metre wide beach. Heavier sand will be used for the area from Torrent Major to the Traves dock, as in recent years the beach has been growing naturally. An important part of the project is the creation of a promenade which will go from the Monaco to Can Generos. It will be a wooden promenade three metres wide, on pillars and equipped with lighting and benches. This, says the coastal authority, is why the beach has to be widened at least 12 metres. At present, access to the beach is blocked by the tram lines in some places, and this promenade will solve the problem. The container walls will also be repaired. The project will cost nearly two million euros, which will be provided by the central ministry of the environment. It will be posted for public inspection for this month and part of September so that objections can be lodged, and once the contract is awarded, work should take five months. The Balearic environment ministry, which is opposed to the artificial regeneration of beaches, will have to make a report on the project, but its findings will not be binding.