Mayor of Lima Rafael Lopez Aliaga presented a project to construct the first artificial beach in the Peruvian capital and said it would be ready for the first days of May 2023.
The purpose of the Huiracocha or Wiracocha artificial beach project is to provide the population of the eastern zone of Lima, which does not have close access to the sea, with the possibility of “enjoying the summer” in a space designed for this purpose.
It is located in the Huiracocha zonal park in the Lima district of San Juan de Lurigancho.
A municipal swimming pool, one of the largest in the country, already exists, where free bathing is authorized every day from 6:45 to 9:00 am.
From 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, citizens must pay a fee to enter.
The fee increased from S/8 to S/25 (between US$2 and US$6.6) the last summer after its administration was handed over to a concessionaire company from December 17, 2022, until last March 19.
Lopez Aliaga, who took office as mayor of Lima on January 1, 2023, referred at a press conference to the concession that operated on Huiracocha and its rates and assured that the space ceded to third parties was recovered to return it to the people.
He also promised to inaugurate the space in the first week of May.
According to the local media La República, the construction of artificial beaches in San Juan de Lurigancho and in the district of Ate Vitarte is one of the electoral campaign projects with which Aliaga promised to make Lima a “world power”.
The Huiracocha project would be inspired by the San Alfonso resort in the Chilean region of Valparaiso, 90 kilometers northwest of the capital Santiago.
That complex has an artificial lagoon – at the time considered the largest in the world – one kilometer long and 35 meters deep in the deepest area, built by Crystal Lagoons.
Chilean biochemist and businessman Fernando Fischmann founded the company specializing in this type of real estate development.
López Aliaga assured that, in principle, the Huiracocha beach would not have artificial waves, which would be for “later.”
“Let’s start with what we have.”
The Lima mayor assured the project would have “a good beach, with sand, palm trees, and lounge chairs so that people will have plenty of space.
With information from Sputnik