The Popular Group in the Arrecife City Council has announced that it will present allegations to the Municipal Ordinance on the Use and Management of the Capital's Coastline, approved in the last plenary session with the sole favorable votes of the government team, PSOE-CC and PIL.
The popular representatives assure that the new municipal regulations substantially affect prohibitions more than the regulation of practices and activities. According to the municipal spokesperson, Dácil Garcias, "the Socialist Mayor's obsession with prohibiting and cutting rights is evident in a fundamentally punitive text that clashes with the null awareness-raising work that the City Council, as a public administration, is also obliged to do".
"It is easier, more comfortable and faster to prohibit citizens from smoking on beaches than to respect rights and work on raising awareness and on measures to avoid problems, as may be the case with cigarette butts in the sand, which, as we all know, is due to the uncivil attitude of many citizens," says the councillor.
"It is logical that sanctions are established for this type of action, throwing cigarette butts on the beach or chewing gum and rubble in the street, but the line to follow cannot be to prohibit for the sake of prohibiting," she says. "If smoking is prohibited on beaches because of cigarette butts, are you also going to prohibit chewing gum in the city? It is obvious that you are not, therefore, this is just an example of how prohibitive the ordinance is".
Garcias points out that her group is against prohibiting smoking on all the beaches or coves of the municipality and advocates raising awareness among smokers to avoid dirt and the damage they cause to other beach users, as well as the application of severe sanctions for smokers who leave cigarette butts in the sand.
"Ordinance without participation"
The councillor of the Popular Party also denounces the lack of participation given to the affected groups or sectors in the drafting of the basic text that is now entering the allegation phase.
"What cannot be is that an ordinance is drawn up and approved without first listening to the residents, groups or associations, as is the case with the fishermen who are fully affected because there is a specific section for the Charco de San Ginés".
