Spanish golf courses help in COVID-19 fight

Tia Duerrmeyer | Last updated May 12, 2020 12:0pm0

Editor’s note: Former Sisters resident and Nugget correspondent Tia Duerrmeyer shares a COVID-19 update from her home in the Costa del Sol area of Spain. In her community private and public sectors are working together to fight the spread of the coronavirus by cleaning and disinfecting local streets, parking lots, and community areas. Tia submits the very simple, grassroots idea with the hope that it might spread beyond Spain’s borders.

Atalaya Golf & Country Club is the first golf facility in Spain to offer its machinery and a staff member to clean and disinfect the streets and parking areas nearby its two golf courses. The campaign is spearheaded by Atalaya’s Director General Andrés Sánchez, who is encouraging other courses throughout Spain to join the project.

Working in partnership with the municipality of Benahavis, Atalaya’s “clean and disinfect” initiative went into effect on Monday morning March 23. The streets of La Alquería Villas, Atalaya Hills and parts of the El Paraiso subdivision were sanitized.

Agronimer Golf of Marbella, under the direction of David Fernández, himself an Atalaya member, is providing a second fumigator and operator to work in conjunction with Atalaya to carry out the necessary work.

Sterilizing products and diesel for the equipment are being provided by the Benahavis city council, allowing the service to be provided to all free of cost. This cooperative effort exemplifies how public and private partnerships are able to collaborate to offer vital community services in times of need.

Sánchez has asked the Andalusian Golf Federation to encourage clubs throughout Andalucía to participate.

He said, “I spoke with the Andalusian Golf Federation to organize all golf clubs of Andalucía to help with their fumigation machinery, and the federation has already posted an email to all the courses of Andalucía to take the example of Atalaya Golf.”

The concept is very simple. Golf facilities are being asked to provide their machinery and personnel free of charge to clean and disinfect the streets of areas located near their individual clubs.

“At the initiative of Atalaya, Benahavís will be the first municipality in which this campaign is launched, but surely there are many more municipalities that will be delighted to have this help,” said Maria Rosa Giménez de la Riva, spokeswoman for the golf federation. “That is why, from the Royal Andalusian Golf Federation, we encourage all of you to contact your municipalities to transfer this proposal to them. The golf sector will be doing its bit to fight the virus.”

With all golf courses closed during the current lockdown, which now has been extended until May 9, other golf clubs are quickly falling in line behind Atalaya. They are welcoming the opportunity to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 virus.

“We will try to make the whole initiative a great success,” said Sánchez.