Costs does not erase the trace of the storms in Menorca

CiutadellaThe trace left by the continuous winter storms has not been erased in Menorca. The imprint is still present, months later, in various parts of the Menorcan coastline and, more seriously, with the season having already begun.

The most striking case affects the municipality of Migjorn Gran, especially since the insular director of the State, Clara Mayans, publicly stated that one of the damaged walkways would not be repaired because “it would be throwing money away”. The explanation from those responsible for Costes is that it is not worth repairing structures that have constantly suffered the onslaught of the waves in recent years, as they have to be repaired every summer. And the effect of climate change suggests that this will continue.

The consequence has been that a British tourist has fractured her skull by stepping where there was no step and the City Council has had to close access as a precaution. At the start of the season and since Costes is not taking action, two of the three walkways have been closed, the only ones that, moreover, have an access ramp for people with mobility problems.

The municipal government has sent the police report of the incident to Costes so that it “is aware of the danger to which it subjects users” and has publicly demanded the “integral and immediate” repair of the walkways. It understands that refusing to repair the structures is “inacceptable” because it violates the basic rights of universal accessibility to the maritime-terrestrial public domain. Furthermore, it points out that it cannot be said that repairing the structures would be “throwing money away” when the State collects more than 12 million euros annually in the Balearic Islands as a fee for the occupation of the public domain. The City Council believes that “it is only fair that part of these revenues revert to the maintenance of the infrastructures, for which the State is responsible”.

It is not the only cause for discord. The new sector agreement, which improves working conditions for beach surveillance, rescue, and lifeguard services, forces the City Council to pay more than double what it earns from the exploitation of the coastline. Rescue, buoying, and repair of surveillance towers have cost it 243,062 euros this year, significantly higher than the 108,856 it obtained last summer from beach concessions.

The Councilor for Tourism and Environment, Antoni Borràs, has asked the island and regional administrations to get involved and for the rescue service to be a joint service, to be borne exclusively by the municipalities. Borràs criticizes that the Government “does not consult the town councils when negotiating service improvements, when it is the municipalities that have to assume them”.

Thus, the Migjorn government plans to reduce the operating hours of the beach surveillance service next summer to lower its cost. A decision that the town councils of Ferreries and es Mercadal have already made and will implement this year. “We had reserved a sum in the budgets, but the increase in the agreement has been greater than we could imagine and we have not been able to incorporate it”, explains the mayor of Ferreries, Pedro Pons. Doing so would have required publishing the tender in the European Official Journal (OJEU) and, therefore, significantly delaying the start of the service, which is why it was decided to cut back on its provisions. The result is that there will be no lifeguards at Cala Mitjana in May or after September 15, and the service will only be covered for two and a half months at the beginning and end of the season, which will result in a boat being dispatched four times a day from Cala Galdana.

The Sant Lluís City Council has also reacted in the case of the Algar swimming platforms, which the Council has had to repair itself due to the “inaction” of Costas. Storm Harry damaged the swimming area, and the municipal government has grown tired of waiting for the State's intervention and has hired a company to repair it urgently. The cost to the municipality has been 4,636.28 euros.

No security in the facilities

Like Migjorn Gran, the Sant Lluís City Council also considers it “profoundly unfair” that the Ministry for Ecological Transition continues to collect the fee for coastal concessions without simultaneously guaranteeing the maintenance and safety of beach facilities. The situation has worsened with the partial transfer of competences in 2022 in favor of the Administration, a model that the City Council believes is “failures”, since “one administration collects, another processes, and none responds when a real problem arises”.

In fact, the Sant Lluís City Council has observed that the Algar bathing platforms have no valid concession despite being in the public maritime-terrestrial domain, a situation that has not changed even though there are open files in this regard corresponding to 1999, 2006, and 2022. The City Council considers it “inacceptable” that the files have not been resolved in these 25 years and that no one has invested in the refurbishment of the structures during all this time.

The president of the Consell de Menorca, Adolfo Vilafranca, has collected the discontent of the municipalities, and has taken advantage of the recent meeting of presidents in Formentera to express the “common and widespread concern” about the operation of Costas in Menorca. Vilafranca invokes the cases of Sant Tomàs and Algar to denounce that “the city councils pay, but then the Spanish government does not respond with the diligence that Menorca needs”.

The situation could worsen if, as the island president fears, Costas doubles the fee it currently charges in exchange for authorizing the occupation and exploitation of concessions on the beaches. Vilafranca asks the State to “not materialize the increase”, which he describes as “inacceptable, especially when this money is not reinvested in Menorca”.