The Mediterranean Sailors’ Association (ADN) has slammed the ‘total closure’ to navigation in the coves of Manacor recently ordered by the local council, considering it an “unjustified” measure that will deal an ‘unprecedented blow’ to the nautical sector. In a statement, the association expressed its dissatisfaction with the marking of the coves and beaches for recreational boating and warned of the lack of technical and legal justification for the measure.
This decision, despite being presented as ‘an effort to improve the safety of swimmers and combat the alleged saturation of the coast’, represents ‘an unprecedented blow to the Balearic nautical sector’.
ADN considers that boats ‘have never posed a direct risk to swimmers’ and that the ‘narrative of alleged widespread overcrowding’ on the Balearic coastline is unfounded.
The ban on access by sea in Manacor, they state, could have the opposite effect to that desired by increasing the use of private vehicles, with the consequent impact on the environment, mobility and accessibility to coves and beaches.
‘If the aim were really to improve safety, the council should focus on strengthening lifeguard services and designing smart buoys to prevent swimmers from straying dangerously far from the shore. Instead, everything points to unilateral action that criminalises the nautical sector and fails to combine safety with orderly and sustainable access to the coast,’ the association argued.
That is why they have called for the urgent intervention of the Regional Ministry of the Sea and the Water Cycle and the inclusion in the future coastal management law of clear regulations on buoys that guarantee both the protection of swimmers and the free movement of ‘responsible’ boats.