Marbella’s beaches are in the news. In Spanish and foreign media, especially in the UK’s high-circulation newspapers that British tourists who spend their summers on the Costa del Sol go to for information. The curious thing is that Marbella’s sandy beaches have not hit the headlines for their blue flags, beauty or climate. The reason this time is quite different: pee. To be more precise, the decision by the Town Hall to get serious about people who decide to empty their bladders in the sea, which has caused a considerable stir among visitors.
But… What exactly has the City Council proposed? And most importantly, with summer just beginning: Can we get a fine for taking some time off on the beaches?
About beaches, piss and finesThe news actually broke several months ago, but with the start of summer it has been gaining momentum, both within and outside our borders: Marbella has decided to get serious with those who decide to urinate on its coast. So much so, in fact, that those offenders caught while emptying their bladders where they shouldn’t are exposed to a fine of 750 euros, which could double up to 1,500 euros in the case of repeat offenders.
This has been published over the last few weeks by Spanish newspapers and television channels and British newspapers of the reach of The Telegraph, The Independent o Time Out in a demonstration of the extent to which the rule generated expectations in the United Kingdom, the origin of frequent tourists to the Costa del Sol.
Is there going to be a police officer watching? A team from Cuatro’s ‘Tiempo al Tiempo’ programme even went to the beaches of Marbella to interview bathers who admitted that they did not fully understand how the law would be applied. “Who’s going to find out, the jellyfish?” joked one of them. He was not the only one. Another woman wondered how the authorities would control what is done in the water: “Is there going to be a policeman watching? I don’t understand anything,” she admitted, equally confused.
Nuances of the ordinance. Thursday The Guardian The London daily asked what exactly the ordinance is intended to do. After contacting Marbella Town Hall, the London newspaper claims that its authorities have denied that people caught emptying their bladders in the warm waters of its beaches will risk fines of 750 euros. The key lies in the wording of the ordinance that regulates the infraction. A spokesman for the Town Hall clarifies that the regulation does indeed address the issue, but refers to people who urinate in the sea from the shore or the breakwaters.
“The ordinance does not impose any penalty for urinating in the sea,” the council stresses: “It will not be applicable. The regulation regulates possible antisocial infractions on the beach, just as any act of this type is regulated in any public space, such as the streets of the city.” The regulation does not only talk about urinating on the beaches. Throughout the document, other behaviours that can bother other bathers are addressed, such as games, inappropriate use of showers, dirtying the sand and throwing cigarette butts into the sand or using loudspeakers.
But… What exactly does the text say? The ordinance on conditions of use of beaches and adjacent areas is extensive, but what has caught the attention and sparked news is a very brief phrase included in one of the sections of article 67, the one dedicated to minor offences. It details that “physiological evacuation in the sea and on the beach” will be considered as such. At the end of the regulation it is specified that infractions of this type, considered minor, are fined up to 750 euros.
This Monday Time Out He pointed out that the penalties for acts such as urinating where one should not have used to carry 300 euros and specified that although the 750 euro fine has already received the approval of the City Council, it will not be applied until the public consultation. The fact that the Marbella initiative is in the news just now could be explained by a progress in its processing at the end of June, coinciding with the beginning of summer.
Objective: clean beachesThe truth is that Marbella is not the first to declare war on pee on the beach. Before it, Vigo and Malaga were already in the news for the same reason. The former launched an ordinance several years ago that also caused a stir among foreign bathers, although in that case the expectant ones were the Portuguese who spend their summers in the south of Galicia.
The 2021 ordinance passed by Abel Caballero’s team uses wording similar to that of Marbella. “Evacuation in the sea or on the beach” is prohibited, as is washing in the estuary water with soap and shampoo. In fact, it is insisted that “physiological evacuation in the sea or on the sand” is considered a minor offence. To avoid this, the Council is committed to installing public toilets.
Malaga (and beyond)The case of Malaga is even older. Its Ordinance on the Use and Enjoyment of Beaches, a regulation approved a decade ago, specifies in its article 16 the prohibition of “physiological evacuation in the sea or on the beach.” The Opinion of Malaga However, he points out that the fines there are of lesser value and do not exceed 300 euros. Neither the Malaga nor Vigo cases would be unique.
At least in Lepe, in the province of Huelga, it was also decided to make it clear that people should not urinate in places frequented by bathers. In 2012, the newspaper ABC reported on a new ordinance that imposed fines of up to 750 euros on those who relieved their bladders, either on the beach or in the sea. The aim: to “raise awareness” among bathers and improve the conservation of the sandbanks.
In public places it is better to hold back. Vigo, Malaga and now Marbella all share in their bylaws the prohibition of peeing (and urinating) “in the sea or on the beach”. Since the last Council they have now clarified that the focus is not on what is done in the water, but from points such as the shore or breakwaters.
Urinating in public spaces is prohibited by municipal ordinances. And not only on the coast. The key in the case of beaches is what the Marbella City Council spokesperson suggests or what Marbella bathers pointed out on Cuatro’s microphones: To what extent is it “operational” to sanction urination in the water? And above all, how can it be controlled in the middle of the sea?
Imagen | Big-ashb (Flickr)
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