The small beach of s'Estanyol, in Cala de Bou, looks deserted early on Wednesday morning. Practically the only thing on the site are the warning signs installed by the Sant Josep Town Hall indicating that the beach is closed to bathing. The reason, as the council pointed out, was due to a sewage spill that occurred in the area on Tuesday afternoon. This is the reason for the abandoned image of the beach, with dark tones that are far removed from the turquoise colour so typical of the island's beaches.
However, just a few metres away, dozens of tourists are bathing on the adjacent beach as normal. There is hardly a gaping hole on the few metres of sand on the beach. These tourists seem oblivious to the spill, which happened just metres away from where they are enjoying the sun. One such couple are Alice and Elisabeth, two young British women staying in the hotel behind the beach. They said they came down to the beach because it was convenient for them and they had no idea that there had been a spill nearby.
However, the signs prohibiting bathing extend almost as far as this part of the beach. Right next to the signs are Marco and Sofia, an Italian couple who have noticed them but say, 'We haven't paid much attention to them because we understand that we can bathe here'. Asked if they are worried about the spill so close by, they reply, 'A little, although we are confident that if it were dangerous, this beach would also be closed.'
The beach reopened on Wednesday afternoon. The Josepí council explained that the beach could not reopen until the health reports had been received, and these finally arrived in the afternoon.
On the other hand, and also in Cala de Bou, the beach of Es Pinet was also closed to bathing due to a fuel spill on Tuesday afternoon. However, this was solved and it is now open again, although not many tourists visited the beach on Wednesday.