Criminal acts against the beach bars of Maspalomas

 

Last Saturday the beach bars of Playa del Inglés, which are still closed, have suffered vandalism againBy second time in the same month. The first time the wooden bars of three beach bars were torn down and this time three of them suffered graffiti, along with other beach signage. 

 

 

Why?

The background to the acts, if any, is unclear. One of the beach bars shows the graffiti “The monument of bureaucracy”, an allusion to the delay in restoring the services of the kiosks, closed in their third winter season. Two others, just those next to the hammocks at the “new” beginning of the nudist zone, show images alluding to sex practices in the dunes, indicating the way to the “Sex Zone.” Are vandals confusing the practice of nudism with sex in the dunes?

 

 

Let us remember that nudism is an expression of naturist tourism and is a very important and differentiating tourist product for Gran Canaria, which has always had its limitations, recently distorted by the elimination of the hammock area in the official nudist area, so Nudists have overtaken it by about 500 meters to the previous hammock stand (see post: “Nudism without limits in Playa del Inglés”). Are we seeing messages against nudism or against the practice of sex in the dunes? They are two very different things that have nothing to do with each other.

Be that as it may, the motive for these criminal acts is the least important, since that is not the way to vindicate anything, nor are we here to decipher sick occurrences. From this blog I hope that the culprits are identified and have to cover the costs for the damage caused, although the damage to the image due to the thousands of tourists who have had to see the images for two days is not quantifiable.

Cleaning and restoration of signage

It is striking that the City Council has not been in a hurry to clean up the graffiti, which was left for Monday, since "during yesterday all the workers in that area were free." Everyone will know the importance they give to the tourist image. Personally, I see the graffiti on beach bars 3 and 4 as a direct insult to nudist tourists and they should have been cleaned immediately.

 

 

Several signs also suffered graffiti, including the one indicating “Nudist zone 500 meters away”, which, since it was almost illegible before, tourists understood (or wanted to understand) after the confinement that indicated the beginning of the nudist zone. In case this sign is impossible to clean, I would propose replacing it with the official start sign of the nudist zone, which is 500m further ahead and is intact, and that is no longer its place, as tourists have moved on. the nudist area to the last hammock stand, due to the inaction of the City Council. Therefore, it would not be necessary to make a new sign, but only to bring the official beginning sign of the nudist zone and replace the other one (possibly this would require a vote in the City Council for the official change of the delimitation of the nudist zone).

Is there really surveillance on the beach? 

After the first events it was announced that police surveillance would be “reinforced” on the main beaches. Perhaps the most appropriate word would be that beach surveillance would be “released” or “enabled,” since it is a service that currently does not exist.

 

 

Proof of this is the number of homeless people who sleep on the beach or in adjacent areas, such as in the two Red Cross posts, which have been converted into improvised accommodation on the seafront. All of this shows us that there is no successful management of the beaches or the associated services (beach bars, hammocks, delimitation of nudist areas, security, blue flags, etc.), which is why we once again propose from this blog the intervention by a independent manager of, at least, the beaches department.

                                   Opinion article: https://www.antoniogarzon.com