Volunteers clean up beaches after Hurricane Gloria

After a whole weekend's work, local helpers in Catalunya and also in the cosmopolitan seaside town of Dénia, northern Alicante province, amassed tonnes of plastic and other waste which had been washed up by giant waves, torrential rain and winds of up to 115 kilometres per hour.

In Catalunya alone, around 500 coastal towns have suffered damage and, although work has already started in earnest on their repair, some will take months to resolve, such as the R1 suburban railway line between Blanes and Malgrat (Barcelona).

But residents are doing what they can – organised groups have been scooping up rubbish from the beaches and surrounding roads, separating plastics, paper and cardboard, cans and bottles, so they can be recycled, and non-recyclable waste, as well as organic matter such as seaweed which may be suitable for compost.

The weekends since the freak storm battered the Mediterranean seaboard have seen dozens of residents on every beach from L'Estartit (Girona) to L'Ampolla (Tarragona) and on the 20 kilometres of beach in Dénia.

The above photograph shows El Pont del Petroli beach in Badalona (Barcelona province), where, according to a spokeswoman for Badalona pel Clima ('Badalona for Climate'), the plastic waste regurgitated onto the shore included a yoghurt pot of over 30 years old.

“You could tell the date by the old label design,” she said.

Residents of every age, from pre-teens to pensioners, have been taking part in the organised beach clean-ups.