“The municipal ordinances prohibit camping and, in some cases, as in Sant Josep, also staying overnight, so the Policía Local are the most effective against the presence of caravans in nature areas”, says Mariano Juan, vice president of the Consell de Ibiza and head of the Office Against Intrusiveness.
The Councillor for Territory said yesterday he is aware of the increase in these type of vehicles that function as tourist accommodation. He sees it with his own eyes when he moves around the island, he explains. He has seen them in Cala Nova or Cala Llenya, he points out.
Although he recognizes that this problem is part of tourism, he insists that the most effective way to deal with it is through municipal ordinances. The councilor, moreover, justifies his position: “The priority for the Office Against Intrusiveness is the fight against tourist apartments. It is not a whim. It is because the tourist apartments represent a problem for access to housing”. The conseller points out that the rental of caravans for camping on the island is a tourist infraction against the ordinances and the environment. Precisely for this reason, he explains, this problem can be tackled both through the Policía Local and by the Govern. “However, in the case of tourist apartments, they cannot be attacked by other means. Only from the Office,” continues the vice president. “In tourist rentals in apartments the Policía Local cannot intervene because it is not an urban infraction and neither can the Environment department because no regulations in this area are infringed,” he insists.
“Caravans are mobile”
In this sense, he points out that the Consell de Ibiza have intervened in the case of “exotic accommodations” that were offered through Airbnb like tipis or yurts “because it is prohibited in the Insular Territorial Plan (PTI)”. Thus, he explains, three yurts that operated as tourist accommodation on protected rural land have been dismantled. “In these cases, the problem ends when the yurt disappears,” he indicates before emphasizing that the situation is different in the case of caravans, since they are mobile.
Thus, he reiterates that the fastest way to prevent camping in nature and protected areas with the environmental risk that this entails, is through compliance with municipal ordinances. “We have to be smart when it comes to using the tools we have to fight against intrusiveness and illegalities,” emphasises the insular vice president, who stresses that in the case of the Consell being the one to initiate these files, a penalty of 10,000 euros could be applied, which would take “eight months” to process. So he insisted again that the most practical and fast manner to deal with caravans installed in forest or protected areas is by the municipalities.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.