The GOB denounces that cars continue to park in Cala Llombards despite a sentence that supports its prohibition

PalmaCars continue to park on the beach of Cala Llombards, in Santanyí, even though the Demarcation of Coasts had already determined that this use is not authorized and that a ruling by the Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands (TSJIB) has now supported this position. The GOB denounces that, four years after initiating actions to demand the closure of the parking lot, the situation on the ground remains unchanged.

The environmental organization directly points to both the Santanyí City Council and the Demarcation of Coasts. On the one hand, the Consistory maintains the signage that orders and facilitates parking; on the other hand, Coasts has not adopted, according to the GOB, the necessary measures to prevent vehicles from parking in a beach area where regulations expressly prohibit it.

The issue dates back, at least, to 2018, when the GOB denounced the degradation of the dune area of Cala Llombards. That February, the organization warned of the destruction by machinery of about 300 square meters of dune formation located on the north side of the beach. It was an area with a natural habitat of white dunes, protected by the Habitats directive, where species such as beach grass and sea lily grow. The subsequent delimitation of a protection zone allowed for partial recovery of vegetation, but the maintenance of the parking lot has continued to hinder, according to the GOB, the complete recovery of the dune system.

Coasts determined that cars cannot park there

In May 2022, GOB once again reported the situation to Costes, the Santanyí Town Hall, the Ministry of Environment, and the Land Defense Agency. The entity requested that the legality of the parking lot be determined and that, if it were illegal, access for vehicles be closed and the affected area be restored.

The subsequent inspection by the Coastal Surveillance Service concluded that the parking lot is located within an area classified as a beach. According to the administrative file, this classification implies that both the circulation and parking of vehicles are prohibited there, in application of article 72.2 of the general coastal regulations. Costes also confirmed that there was no valid authorization to occupy the maritime-terrestrial public domain as a parking lot, nor to maintain the signage and other elements associated with this use.

Therefore, in September 2022, the Coastal Demarcation required the Town Hall to close the parking lot and remove its facilities and signage. The initial deadline given was one month. Faced with the municipal refusal, in October Costes issued a new requirement, this time with a non-extendable deadline of ten days. In that document, Costes also announced that it would install signs to inform of the prohibition of parking on the beach.

The TSJIB rules in favor of Costes

The Santanyí City Council appealed against the actions of Costas and argued in court that it had an authorization granted in 2018 to signal and delimit the access and exit routes to the beach.

The Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands has now rejected this argument. In a ruling of May 8, 2026, the Contentious-Administrative Chamber concludes that the municipal authorization to which the City Council referred expired on March 13, 2022. From that date, therefore, the City Council no longer had authorization to regulate and delimit traffic in this area of public maritime-terrestrial domain. The TSJIB has thus dismissed the municipal appeal against Costas's requirement and has also imposed judicial costs on the City Council, up to a maximum of 3,000 euros.

Four years later, cars are still on the beach

For the GOB, the problem is that the judicial resolution has not, for the moment, had any visible effect on the ground. The entity recalls that Costes had already found in 2022 that the car park did not have authorization and had ordered the signage to be removed. In 2024, given the persistence of the situation, the GOB again publicly demanded its closure.

Now, with the pronouncement of the TSJIB, it considers that there is no longer room to maintain the current situation. The entity calls on the Santanyí City Council to immediately remove the facilities and signs that allow and order parking and to comply with Costes's requirement, now judicially endorsed.

At the same time, it demands that the Demarcació de Costes use its powers and effectively prevent the access and parking of vehicles in the beach area, as well as clearly signal the prohibition and act in the face of non-compliance. The GOB considers it "unjustifiable" that, after four years of complaints, administrative proceedings, and legal actions, vehicles are still parking in the same space. The entity argues that the recovery of the dune area and the protection of public domain "do not require more proceedings or more years of waiting," but rather that the administrations enforce the regulations they themselves have determined.