What changes for swimmers at Melenara?
Swimming is allowed again at Melenara beach in Telde since Thursday 5 November 2026. The Ayuntamiento (town council) reopened the whole length of the beach after midday.
The council named no conditions or restrictions. The reopening rests on reports from Salud Pública (the Canary Islands public health authority), which put the water readings back within the permitted range.
The ban had applied since Friday 30 October 2026. The original report speaks of six days of closure, though how you count the days is a matter of opinion.
Only Melenara was affected. According to the authorities, other beaches that were also sampled showed no similar results.
What triggered the closure?
On Wednesday 28 October the Servicio Canario de la Salud took water samples at two points in Melenara. The laboratory found more enterococci in the northern sector near the muelle (jetty) than the rules allow.
Enterococci are intestinal bacteria and point to possible faecal contamination. The measured values and the exact limit were not published.
The Dirección del Área de Salud de Gran Canaria passed the results to the council and recommended a precautionary swimming ban. Mayor Juan Antonio Peña then ordered the temporary closure and said: “The most important thing is people’s safety.”
New samples were announced for Tuesday 3 November. No figures from those results are available.
Where did the pollution come from?
According to the Ayuntamiento, the cause has still not been determined. The council gave no specific reason for the raised readings in the first samples.
When the closure began, it listed several possible factors: unusually warm sea for the time of year, many bathers, a source on land and currents from the open sea. None of these assumptions is confirmed.
Aguas de Telde, the mixed-ownership municipal water company, had the sewer pipes around the beach inspected with cameras. Dye tests and other checks were added to find, or rule out, damage to the network.
This work continues after the reopening, as does the monitoring of water quality. The Ayuntamiento gave no date for results.
Has Melenara had problems before?
In November and December 2025 five beaches in Telde stayed closed for a month: Melenara, Salinetas, Aguadulce, Tufia and Ojos de Garza. Before that, many fish had died at the fish farm off Melenara and Salinetas.
Traders in Melenara reported losses of up to 50%. According to RTVC, Melenara reopened on 18 December 2025, after the Dirección General de Salud Pública of the Gobierno de Canarias issued a favourable report.
From 28 to 30 January 2026 Melenara and Salinetas were closed again, after an “isolated” case of sea pollution. On 30 January the council reopened both beaches after favourable reports.
As things stand, there is no proven link between the 2025 and 2026 cases and the current closure. For October 2026 the sources name enterococci and a possible origin in the sewer network or elsewhere, but no cause has been established.
Who decides on closures, and what should visitors do?
The Ayuntamiento orders closures and reopenings, while Salud Pública supplies reports and recommendations. The council has said before that no bathing area opens without a favourable health report.
Practical advice from the authorities went no further than not swimming during a closure. Anyone visiting Melenara is best advised to check announcements from the Telde council and Salud Pública before getting in the water.
Recent history shows that closures can return at short notice. In Tenerife, Playa Jardín in Puerto de la Cruz was closed because of faecal contamination from July 2024 until 17 June 2025, more than eleven months.
At Melenara the search for the cause goes on, along with the checks on the water. No new samples or dated results had been announced by Thursday.