A reader has denounced the situation of "total lack of control" and the "massification" suffered by the Papagayo beaches, in the Los Ajaches Natural Monument. In a letter sent to La Voz, this citizen has narrated that he spent last weekend on the most famous beach in the area, Papagayo beach.
"I was on Papagayo beach after a long time and as a native of Lanzarote the feeling that the visit left me with is that we are letting a unique space on the island die," he denounced.
For this citizen, the area suffers from a "feeling of lack of control, from the entrance to this natural space, where there was no one in the entrance booth and cars and more cars kept entering."
In this sense, he indicated that Papagayo beach was "dirty" and "full of papers, wipes, cigarette butts, etc., all over the sand." He even pointed out that some tourists left a broken umbrella in the place.
"The separation between people made you remember any massified tourist destination in the world," he added. In this sense, he pointed out that he came across "people walking and climbing anywhere on the beach, outside the paths" and "causing small landslides."
In addition, he added that the water was murky and that "of the crystalline water that he remembered, only the memory remained." Thus, he indicated "the amount of people" who were staying overnight outside the camping area, where there are many vans and caravans parked on other beaches.
"It is a shame that a space of such landscape and natural value does not have a minimum of control, totally overwhelmed by tourist pressure. Why isn't the entry limited to so many visitors per day? I can't understand what the institutions are waiting for to seriously rethink this tourism model towards one that prioritizes conservation and respects the limits of natural environments such as Papagayo," he concluded.
