Yahoo News Holiday warning for people travelling to Spanish beach
One of Spain’s most popular destinations for holidays has introduced new fines for those who dirty its beaches on the Costa del Sol. Malaga in southern Spain will be dishing out fines to help keep its coastline clean.
Fines of up to €750 (£635) will be introduced on 25 beaches in the Malaga municipality. The city council approved plans on June 21, as the popular holiday hotspot aims to reduce damage caused by an influx of tourists over the summer months.
But the plans need to pass a public consultation before it becomes written into law. This follows the likes of northern Spanish town, Vigo, which introduced fines for “physiological evacuation on the beach or in the sea” - in other words, peeing - two years ago.
Malaga will be looking to increase fines of up to €750, following previous legislation that saw the city hand out fines of €300 (£254). The new regulations will ban peeing on the beaches, but a spokesperson for the city council told The Guardian that they will not impose fines for those relieving themselves in the sea if they’re swimming.
The spokesperson said: “The bylaw does not impose a sanction for peeing in the sea. It will not be applicable. The bylaw regulates possible antisocial infractions on the beach, just as any such acts are regulated in any public space such as on the city’s streets.”
Anyone caught breaking the new regulations more than once in the space of a year could face a fine of up to €1,500 (£1,270), according to Euronews . The new restrictions also point to keeping dogs out of the sea and on dog-designated beaches.
For beachgoers, proposals also include sanctions for antisocial offences such as playing loud music or playing ball games on the sands, and won’t be allowed to reserve an area with a parasol. But smokers and vapers will be able to continue to smoke on beaches, but there will be fines for littering with cigarette butts or food scraps.
