Fuengirola digitized its beach control and got an award for it

One of the examples of digital transformation led by a public administration

Last week, Ana Mula, the mayor of Fuengirola went to Madrid to pick up an award that her Municipality had won in terms of innovation in the field of beach management. This happened at the XIII Awards for 'Success Cases of Digital Transformation in Public Administrations and Bodies' and the distinction was thanks to the sensorization project implemented in the Andalusian city’s beaches last summer. It allowed the remote control the occupancy of the sandy areas in order to optimize social distancing among beachgoers.

Beach capacity can now be studied and analyzed remotely, as well

The system for controlling the capacity of Fuengirola beaches using artificial intelligence. This consists of sensors, which were placed on the dozens of streetlights on the seafront, which are connected to a computer program capable of counting in real-time the number of people on the city's beaches.

To do this, the system creates virtual grids in which there is a maximum occupancy capacity. Likewise, it measures the 3D volume of the people entering and leaving those spaces, measuring the number of users who concur in one of the measurement grids at the same time. The result of these calculations makes it possible to report the percentage of occupancy of sandy areas, through a free mobile application called 'Social Guardian'. 

In this way, anyone can check if the beach they want to go to has free space. The app uses a simple colour system whereby if the device appears green, there is an acceptable capacity; if it is in orange, it begins to have a limited occupancy; and if it is in red, it means that it is above the recommended level of occupancy.