Still a restaurant open at Playa Principal?
It looks like the sandy beach has shrunk significantly in the past 50 yrs !
The photo is from a couple of weeks ago. I’ve no idea if they are still open.
If you look closely at the water line in the older photo you’ll see the waves recently washed high up the beach, consistent with a mar de fondo effect that is common at this time of year in the dry season. Also notice water flowing from the lagoon even though it is the height of the dry season. Probably from high waves filling the lagoon.
I don’t think the beach has shrunk so much as it goes through periods of buildup and erosion. Back then the bay wasn’t all silted up like it currently is. Before the construction of the espigón at Puerto Mío the bottom of the bay was visible even in the deepest part. The espigón has been collapsing over the years, and apart from all the boat traffic in the bay, the bay’s health seems to be on the rebound. Of course I’m no marine biologist, I base my opinion mostly on the scent of the bay, silly as that may sound. Even the Playa Principal seems fine for swimming, something it wasn’t just a few years ago before the rehabilitation of the wastewater treatment plants and the effort to detect and seal all clandestine drains. Where I worry most about erosion is where the fishermen put their boats. You can see that the sand there has clearly not been replenishing itself like the rest of the beach.