Rayones are gigantic dunes perpendicular to the sea. The denomination is exclusive to Fuerteventura, a name that the Majorero speaks of relating to those old measures of cereal filled to the brim and that it was necessary to scratch, equalize with the squeegee to obtain the exact volume. This is how these great dunes are shown to us, overflowing with material.
The two main linear dunes jut out into the sea to the SW of the Risco del Paso houses. At the beginning of the 1980s they were 300-400 meters long and 15 meters high, but today they are in the process of decreasing both in height and in extension. The width of Sotavento beach has also been reduced.
One of the causes that would explain this decrease may be the increase in vegetation observed in recent years on the isthmus due to the decrease in livestock, since the vegetation fixes the sand.
However, we must not underestimate the negative effect that the constructions and the road have along the entire coast, constituting barriers that also hinder their movement.
As has been shown in several scientific works, the new tourist infrastructures have cut off the winds and thus the free movement of sand between windward and leeward.
The dunes have decreased in size and extension, the coastline has been reduced and the beaches are increasingly rocky, which makes the sandy future of this unique coastal space look somewhat pessimistic.
