The Maldonado Police and Fire Department personnel finally found and extracted a body from the waters of the New Carrara quarryreported sources from the Maldonado Police Headquarters to The Observer. Authorities have yet to determine if it is of the 22-year-old who disappeared this Saturday the 21st.
That place it had been all the rage among tourists and bathers in 2021: Several young people jumped into its crystal clear waters, the networks were flooded with publications and the place became even more crowded.
However, already in that summer it was known that bathing in that quarry was illegal, unhealthy and controversial. The color of the water is actually due to the lots of chemicals it contains; mainly calcium carbonate.
In this regard, the quality of the water has not been studied: despite its appearance, it is actually stagnant water that was generated after innumerable rains. “It’s water that accumulates there. It is not suitable for bathrooms due to the dangerousness of the place“, said the former candidate for mayor of Pan de Azúcar, Alejandro Echavarría, in 2021.
“We have no idea why. it was never analyzed because it is not intended to be used for bathrooms. How are we going to tell the owner of the factory to analyze it if they can’t bathe there?” asked the mayor and maintained that, “within everything”, the quality of the water is what worries him “least”. Worse are the accidents that can be generated by the heights and the depth of the quarry, which has no currents, but ravines.
On the other hand, the quarries are in a private propertythat thousands of tourists constantly violated and that aroused the anger of the company that owns the place, Compañía Nacional de Cementos (CNC). This company has its industrial plant and deposits in Nueva Carrara.
Upon arriving at the place, there are several signs that warn people that they are in front of private property; is also notified by “danger of blasting” and “landslides”. But neither the fences, nor the piles of stones, nor the machines blocking the way nor the dozens of tapes deployed in the place manage to deter the curious, who do not hesitate to continue their pilgrimage until they reach the place that everyone is talking about.
In 2021, several complaints for illegal entry and the company warned that it would reinforce the fences to prevent the entry of tourists.
Since that year, the Municipality of Maldonado and the Municipality of Pan de Azúcar discourage visits to Nueva Carrara, at least until a public viewpoint is built to provide greater security to the property and is under negotiation.
Asked about it, the Director of Tourism of the Intendancy of that department, Martín Laventure, pointed out to The Observer that “the idea is for this project to materialize” this year; however, he clarified that I would not contemplate those who are going to bathe in the quarryincluding this last person whose body was found this Monday. That viewpoint will provide security “for those who go to contemplate the view, who want the postcard, not for those who want to bathe; that is responsibility […] personal decisions,” he said.
