“The season has started strong but with many problems in the sector. All the inconveniences, added to the low salaries and the problems to find affordable housing, make it one of the worst years in terms of lack of staff. It is not that there is a lack of lifeguards in Ibiza. The island is full of lifeguards, but they are working in the bars. That is the reality”. This is the testimony of Andrés Glorioso, member of the Ibiza Lifeguards Union of CGT and also a Red Cross worker on one of the beaches in the north of Ibiza, s’Arenal Gran in Portinatx, who denounces the precariousness of the lifeguard sector that has been dragging for several years on beaches.
“The low salaries of the lifeguards on the beaches, with salaries just over 1.000 euros, make it very complicated to survive with the current prices on the island, so lifeguards opt for jobs in the hotel industry, where they earn double the money for the same hours”, he explains.
Ibiza has almost 210 kilometers of coastline, an expanse greater than that of provinces such as Malaga or Barcelona. However, the means used by the institutions, according to the Red Cross worker, are insufficient: “We are having problems covering beaches. It is going to be very difficult to reach more beaches, and while not all beaches are monitored on Ibiza because some are considered low risk, this does not mean that things do not happen. It is a problem that worsens year after year. We foresee a season with a lot of tourists, and therefore with a lot of danger. We hope that there will be optimal coverage of beaches, not like what we have now,” says this Glorioso. In Platja d’en Bossa, of the six places provided, only five have been covered.
Fight to improve working conditions for lifeguards
Therefore, it is essential to “improve both wages and working conditions for lifeguards. We are in negotiations with the administrations to confirm these improvements. We have good expectations,” says Glorioso.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.