The mayor of General Pueyrredón opened the bidding for three concrete-free beaches in the south of Mar del Plata. Additionally, he allowed construction works on a beach resort managed by a company that, according to a study by the University of Mar del Plata and Conicet, contaminated the water of a public stream.
To the south of the city of Mar del Plata, far from the noise and without concrete, are the Chapadmalal beaches. This area has gained popularity in recent years thanks to the conservation of its natural physiognomy.
Forbes magazine highlighted a “real estate boom” in Chapadmalal, where the square meter value ranges between 70 and 100 dollars. However, this investment and development seem to bring significant disadvantages for some.
Residents gathered in the Luna Roja Assembly warn that the General Pueyrredón Municipality, under the management of Mayor Guillermo Montenegro (Together for Change), authorized the advancement of private works on the Chapadmalal beaches without following the proper legal process, violating environmental laws and altering the coastal landscape physiognomy.
Controversies and resolutions
There are also questions about the approval of new regulations with open terms, known as “indefinite”, which allow planning the exploitation of public spaces in favor of private companies, which propose the conditions for their own commercial exploitation. These bids include the beaches “Paradise”, “Redonda”, and “Santa Isabel”.
What concerns the complainants the most is a joint resolution between the Department of Works and Urban Planning and the municipal Tourism Entity, which approved the start of new works by the company Rivan SA. This company manages the “Arroyo Lobería”, commercially known as the “Manantiales Club de Mar” resort, without having complied with the Environmental Management review or possessing the corresponding Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), according to the complainants.
An aggravating factor is that the bed of the Arroyo Lobería, where new works are planned, is contaminated and harmful to human health, as revealed by a study by the Aguas Group of the National University of Mar del Plata (UNMDP) together with the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (Conicet).
In February 2021, a federal operation found the existence of six illegal wells in this stream. Since then, the Municipality is responsible for reversing these “clandestine works”, despite Montenegro trying to prevent it with a precautionary measure that was discarded at the end of last year.
The last concrete-free beaches
Since the beginning of 2025, the Deliberative Council of the General Pueyrredón party has approved at least three regulations allowing progress in the bidding for three beaches in the Chapadmalal area.
At the end of January, the city mayor announced the bidding for the concession for the next 20 years of the fiscal tourist unit Playa Dorada, called “Paradise”. Weeks later, he did the same with the bidding of the beaches “Santa Isabel” and “Redonda”, all of them without a defined pliego.
According to the Citizen Observatory Paseo Costanero Sur, these beaches are “the last ones in the southern part of Mar del Plata that remain free of buildings and private exploitation” and are part of the South Coast Forest Reserve, so they “must be specially preserved for their great environmental and archaeological value“.
The issue of coastal erosion in the south of Mar del Plata
Coastal erosion has caused serious damage in the southern area of Mar del Plata for over 30 years. This problem not only persists but has accelerated in the last two decades.
The lack of intervention by municipal and provincial authorities in the face of this situation is concerning, as the deterioration continues unabated.
According to information from various local sources, the situation began to worsen 20 years ago, especially with the expansion of the Quequén breakwater and the constant sand extraction from the port.
Although it was possible to contain the erosion in the cliff area with the construction of breakwaters, the situation in the south of Mar del Plata has never been addressed again. The original project envisaged the construction of seven breakwaters, but only three were completed, leaving the rest of the area exposed.
*With information from elDiarioAR
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