The healthy beaches campaign, promoted by the Conselleria de Salut of the Balearic Government, already has fifty beaches in the Balearic Islands. In these beaches signs are installed at the accesses to inform users of this new cataloging and invite them to collaborate in maintaining the beaches free of smoke and waste.
The aim of the campaign is to prevent smoking in the marked areas, promote healthy habits and raise awareness among the population about the importance of not leaving waste in natural areas.
On the page of ‘Tabaquisme a les Illes Balears'[Smoking in the Balearic Islands] within the website of the Balearic Government, you can consult the complete list of smoke-free beaches.
According to recent data from the survey on drug consumption, in the Balearic Islands 34.5% of students between 14 and 18 years of age say they have smoked tobacco at some time in their lives. 29.1% have done so in the last year, 22.2% in the last thirty days and 6.9% daily during the last month. The prevalence of tobacco use is higher in women.
Healthy beach sign / M.P.
On the other hand, tobacco waste contains more than seven thousand toxic chemicals that poison the environment. Cigarette butts are the most commonly found waste among marine litter.
Ten years to degrade
A cigarette butt takes approximately ten years to degrade in a process that releases a large amount of toxic chemicals into the soil, water and natural ecosystems. In addition, one cigarette butt alone contaminates 10 liters of sea water and 50 liters of fresh water, explains the City Council in a note.
In addition, it is very difficult to remove them from the natural environment with the machinery used for cleaning and maintenance of the coast by its small size, making many can end up in the sea and be ingested by fish that later, we will consume with the transfer of toxins that this implies.
According to some studies, tobacco butts account for up to 40% of the waste in the Mediterranean Sea. In addition, they contain cellulose acetate (a form of plastic) and release pollutants such as nicotine or arsenic.
Smoke-free beaches in Ibiza and Formentera
More than a dozen beaches on Ibiza and Formentera are smoke-free. This summer you will not be able to smoke in Cala d’Hort , the first in the municipality of Sant Josep to be declared smoke-free in 2020, as well as the first in the municipality of Sant Josep to be declared smoke-free in 2020 es Cavallet, es Migjorn (ses Salines) and es Bol Nou (Sa Caleta), all of them located in the Natural Park of ses Salines, as well as Platges de Comte.
Other smoke-free beaches on the Pitiusas Islands are the Sant Vicent Cove santa Eulària, ses Figueretes and es Pujols (in Formentera).
In 2023 it became part of this list Caló des Moro in Sant Antoni. In 2024 a new beach has joined this initiative of healthy beaches of the Govern, this is the beach of the Port de Sant Miquel.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.