Sanxenxo awards Paseo de Silgar remodeling contract despite protests

Sanxenxo’s big local fight right now is not some abstract planning dispute. It’s about the railing on Silgar — the seafront promenade that basically functions as the town’s front room. The council has now awarded the remodeling contract and moved the project from argument to execution. That matters because the works touch one of the most recognizable stretches of the waterfront, and because a lot of neighbors think “safety upgrade” is turning into a visual rewrite of a place they feel is already part of the town’s identity. ### What changed this week? The key change is simple — the project is no longer just a plan on paper. Sanxenxo has awarded the contract to Marconsa, the only bidder, after weeks of public criticism and visible protests. That turns a culture-war style local argument into a real public works job with a contractor, a budget, and a clock. ### What exactly is being changed? (farodevigo.es) The flashpoint is the final 120 meters of the promenade, from Rosalía de Castro toward Punta Vicaño. Opponents say the works would replace or visually overwhelm the traditional stone balustrade with stainless-steel elements. The council’s line is narrower — it says the stone barrier will remain and that the intervention adds bars between openings plus a top handrail to reduce fall risk. That gap between “replacement” and “reinforcement” is a huge part of why the row keeps escalating. ### Why are people so angry about a railing? Because this is not just street furniture. The Silgar balustrade is one of those ordinary-looking things that locals read as heritage — the kind of detail that makes the seafront feel like Sanxenxo and not a generic renovated promenade. Once stainless steel appears on the mirador stretch, critics think the whole visual language changes. That is why neighbors formed a platform to defend the stone balustrade and why the issue spread beyond party politics into a broader civic complaint. (lavozdegalicia.es) ### What do protesters want instead? They are not arguing against safety in the abstract. The demand is to improve accessibility and protection without altering the current look so sharply. The BNG called demonstrations, and more than 200 people joined a human chain on the promenade to defend the original stone barrier. The message was basically — fix the hazard if there is one, but do it in a way that respects the place people think they are preserving. (lavozdegalicia.es) ### Why is the council standing firm? The council argues the current configuration creates a real safety problem on the exposed end of the walk. Its position is that the intervention is about accessibility and pedestrian protection, not aesthetic vandalism. That sounds dry, but it is politically useful — once a government frames a project as preventing accidents, backing down gets harder unless it admits the risk was overstated or the design was clumsy. (pontevedraviva.com) ### Is this only about this one stretch? Not really. Silgar has already been through broader changes tied to pedestrian priority and promenade redesign, so residents are reading this job as part of a longer pattern. That makes every new intervention feel less isolated. A handrail is never just a handrail once people suspect the town’s signature seafront is being gradually redesigned piece by piece. (lavozdegalicia.es) ### So what matters now? The contract award means the argument enters its hardest phase — after this, the fight is about whether the council tweaks the works, slows them, or simply builds through the protests. The bottom line is straightforward: Sanxenxo says it is making Silgar safer, but a visible chunk of the town thinks it is changing the place that gives Silgar its character. (farodevigo.es) (farodevigo.es)