Calpe Town Council will ban smoking on the town's beaches and coves. The ordinary plenary session in February, to be held this afternoon, will address the modification of the municipal ordinance on the use and management of the coastline in order to introduce this ban as well as the sanctions that will be imposed for the infringement of this regulation. This is an initiative of the Department of the Environment in collaboration with the Department of Health Prevention.
This means that smoking will be banned along the entire Calpe coastline except for two designated areas on the larger beaches: la Fossa and Arenal-Bol. These areas will be located at the height of Plaza Mediterrani, in la Fossa, and Plaza Colón - in Arenal-Bol.
Last year Calpe Town Council took the first step by joining the Smoke-Free Beach Network of the Regional Ministry of Health and created smoke-free spaces on the beaches of Arenal-Bol, la Fossa and Cantal Roig, thus promoting a healthier and cleaner environment.
‘Last year we started creating spaces for non-smokers and this year we are reversing the initiative so that smoking will be prohibited along the entire Calpe coastline with the exception of two small spaces in la Fossa and Arenal-Bol,’ said the Councilor for Health Prevention, Itziar Doval, who emphasised the importance of promoting the health of beach users and avoiding tobacco consumption, which causes numerous diseases even for passive consumers.
This initiative also aims to protect the environment from highly polluting waste such as cigarette butts. In this sense, 15% of the waste collected on beaches is cigarette butts, which not only pollute the environment but also pose a risk to marine fauna. For this reason, in areas where smoking will be allowed, reusable ashtrays will be distributed from tourist information points to prevent them from being discarded on the sand. ‘On the one hand, we are protecting the health of beach users, especially children, who also frequent these beaches and play sports, which is incompatible with smoking; and on the other hand, we are looking after our coastline and promoting litter-free beaches,’ said Pere Moll, councillor for the environment.