For many tourists, the souvenirs they find in the stores are not enough when it comes to taking a souvenir of Ibiza. It is becoming more and more common for some visitors to take a little bit of sand from the beach they liked the most during their vacation, or a shell or even a stone from the coast.
In fact, in recent times it has become very fashionable for companies and artisans to make jewelry and objects that encapsulate these unique souvenirs so that they will last a lifetime.
However, if someone is thinking of taking some natural element of the beaches of Ibiza and Formentera to remember the moments lived by the sea, they should know that they are facing a fine. And not exactly cheap.
“It is not legal”, they affirm, forcefully, from Legálitas in a communiqué in which it informs of all the more or less habitual behaviors of the summer and the vacations that can imply a sanction and in which it solves some doubts.
Prohibited the extraction of any element of the maritime-terrestrial public domain
“Legálitas reminds that the Coastal Law in Spain prohibits the extraction of any element of the maritime-terrestrial public domain, including these elements,” indicates the law firm, which insists that, regardless of the fine, “taking these elements can negatively affect the ecosystem of the beach” and appeals to the conscience of visitors.
In this sense, it points out that “shells and sand serve as shelter and habitat for various organisms and help prevent erosion.”that is, to maintain those same beaches and coastal environments so that they can be visited in the future. If everyone who visits a beach takes a shell, a pebble or a few grams of sand to make a pendant, for example, in a short time this beach would disappear.
In case the environmental awareness of each one is not enough to deter these behaviors, with the excuse a thousand times heard that “it’s only a little, it does no harm”, without thinking that it is not only one person who does it but many, the law firm warns of the fine that can be imposed on thema penalty of up to 60,000 euros depending on the value of the damage”. A very very expensive souvenir.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.