Talking about trash

 Our tourists are understandably shocked by this facet of our cities. Now, we learn that that trash on beaches is a global problem. A German sculptor H A Shult, in his attempt to draw attention to flotsam on beaches, has used 12 tonnes (two double decker buses full) of recycled junk to build a hotel in Central Madrid's Callao Square.

The Corona Save the Beach Hotel has been created to celebrate a tourism festival. “We must understand that the oceans are the biggest garbage dumps in the world,” the hotel’s creator said. The hotel opened its doors in January and all five of its double rooms were booked for the four days during which it accepted reservations. The hotel has been dubbed the “trashiest hotel in Spain.”

“In spite of this, it received support from some very famous patrons including Danish Model Helena Christensen who spent a night in the Hotel, French Explorer Alexandra Cousteau and jewellery designer Jade Jagger.

The concept on which the hotel is based is that it offers visitors an experience with a strong environmental commitment. A voting is carried each year as to which beach is in bad shape and needs a “clean-up.”

A recent European survey has emphasised that trash on beaches is the main problem of our coasts beating even such old favourites as “pollution.” Now, the question is, can we have a project which will draw our attention to the rubbish littering our country?