Almeria cancels Wi-Fi beaches

The City Council of Almeria has decided to abandon the plan to install free Wi-Fi via smart palm-shaped stations on the city’s beaches.

The project was initially touted as a key enhancement to its tourist offerings. The smart palm stations, first introduced in Dubai in 2020, will no longer be part of the local landscape.

Change of plan

This decision follows a review of the plan, which was part of the Tourism Plan for Large Cities and supported by over €5 million from the Junta de Andalucia.

Joaquin Perez de la Blanca, head of the Department of Tourism, Communications and Promotion, highlighted that advancements in mobile phone technology, which essentially render the project now obsolete.

Instead, the council will redirect the €120,000 previously allocated for the Wi-Fi project to develop kiosks in El Toyo.

Perez de la Blanca emphasised the necessity of this shift, stating, ‘If you walk around El Toyo you realize that there is nothing except hotels and we want to give it life with stalls selling soft drinks, ice cream…, where you can have something to eat.’

He added, ‘The hoteliers see it as so important and so crucial that we have thought that this may be more important than putting Wi-Fi on the beaches.’ The four new structures are set to enhance the seafront of the tourist residential area.