The residents of Benaocaz have been surprised since Saturday by the peculiar illegal camping that is taking place in the area up to Fardela, in its municipal area and within the protected Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park. More than fifty people have gathered there, including Spaniards and mainly foreigners, to celebrate a lunar cycle. The problem is that they are doing it after being denied a permit and they are lighting bonfires, dumping waste and erecting tents to spend the night in a protected area.
These are members of the so-called Rainbow Family, as confirmed by the Benaocaz City Council to La Vanguardia, who define themselves as “a group of people committed to values ​​of non-violence and non-hierarchical egalitarianism.”
The mayoress of Benaocaz, Olivia Venegas, has said that this group has settled in this area motivated by “a lunar cycle” and that “they are expected to be there for 28 days”, although the settlement “is illegal” because “it is not possible to camp , they are dumping waste and they are making fire” something that is “totally prohibited” due to the risk of fire that this entails.
“In principle, everything is controlled but they are still there,” said Venegas, who assured that the Benaocaz City Council has initiated the pertinent actions with the Civil Guard and the management of the Natural Park to be able to evict this settlement and that they are in contact to resolve this matter.
Sources from the Civil Guard of Cádiz have indicated that access to the area is already being prevented so that the group does not increase and thus be able to evict them “little by little” from this protected natural area, warning that “numerous sanctions” for making fires and camping in this area of ​​the Natural Park. The bonfires that they light are also being put out and the structures that have been erected are being dismantled to make them “less comfortable” and to be able to evacuate them in the shortest possible time.
In addition, the acting agents are working on the identification of these fifty people although “they are not very cooperative”, these same sources have indicated, who have detailed that they have settled illegally in the area after they asked the City Council to carry out this camping , something that was denied since it is not allowed.
Given all this, the mayoress has conveyed a message of calm to her neighbors, to whom she has conveyed that “everything will flow normally and that this will be resolved in a short time.”
Peace and love are the mottos of the Rainbow movement, created in the 70s. Since then they have camped all over the world practicing nudism and total contact with nature. Their camps last a month, until “Mother Earth” orders them to leave.
And it is not the first time that they have organized a meeting in Spain.
They were already in La Rioja in June 2021, specifically in the municipality of Mansilla de la Sierra, in the middle of the Portilla valley. So, hundreds of people from all over the country came to join this peculiar gathering. On this occasion, the Civil Guard maintains a fence to avoid the call effect of the last time so that the number of participants does not increase.
