Having decided to declare the beach at Caló des Moro no-smoking, Santanyi town hall is preparing to go a step further and make it no-alcohol. By doing so, the town hall wishes to put a stop to the illegal sale of alcohol and to anti-social behaviour at the beach and to also reduce overcrowding.
The town hall is drafting a revised public order bylaw which will establish fines of between 50 and 3,000 euros. These fines will be applied in general in order to, for instance, regulate the consumption of alcohol in public places and to tackle graffiti and noise. The current bylaw dates back to the 1980s. It is expected that this revised bylaw will be approved at a council meeting in November.
Caló des Moro is one of just a handful of beaches which have been declared or are to be declared no-smoking. The environment and health ministries are leading the campaign for beaches to be made no-smoking but have said that decisions are up to town halls, that these decisions are voluntary and that no fines have been envisaged. It would seem, however, that Santanyi is contemplating fines for Caló des Moro.
The town hall points to the environmental damage from cigarette ends and to problems of behaviour associated with the drinking of alcohol. In "certain zones" there is sale of alcohol without any type of licence, and drinking leads to anti-social and "dangerous" behaviour. "There is a serious problem, not just legal and environmental, but also for public health."
With regard to graffiti, the current bylaw doesn't apparently include any sanction, wherever the graffiti might be. Last year, there was graffiti on rocks in Cala Figuera. The police knew who was responsible but were unable to apply a sanction.