Barra de Navidad, Mexico - Pacific coastal areas affected by Hurricane Patricia in October 2015 have been rehabilitated to recover tourism in towns such as Barra de Navidad, where Saturday the Governor of the State of Jalisco, Aristotle Sandoval, and the Secretary of Federal Tourism, Enrique de la Madrid Cordero, surveyed the works being done on the malecón and the seawall.

"After taking a beating from Hurricane Patricia and other natural phenomena this area has been badly damaged, but we have not left them alone. We have been with them since the first of the year and we immediately got to work, we came, we reviewed, we listened to them, we made a strong investment and gave them all of our support," said Sandoval.

The Governor said that an investment of 20 million pesos was made for the first stage of the rehabilitation of the malecón and breakwater and that, in addition to providing security to the more than 39,000 inhabitants of this destination, has resulted in a 10 percent increase in tourism.

"We have not yet inaugurated the new malecón, but already tourists are increasingly returning, some of the businesses have opened, and other businesses are reporting more visitors. We want to drive this growth in tourism to the entire region."

Due to weather situations, the seawall was already damaged before Patricia, so unserviceable materials were retired and replaced in order to maintain its stability and protect the residents of Barra de Navidad from strong waves.

The Barra de Navidad malecón has been extended to almost twice the original size in width. This, along with the stone walls and shelves that have been built, make the boardwalk more attractive, which will surely result in an increase in tourism.

Original article translated and edited by Ricardo Acerco for BanderasNews.com.