The beach for dogs that the municipalities of Calonge and Platja d’Aro announced with great fanfare at the gates of the start of Easter has been rendered ineffective. Pets can no longer enjoy the sand or its waters due to various errors in the processing of both consistories. A victory for the residents of the two nearby urbanizations that became a coordinator, Amics de la Belladona, considering that the beach was “illegal” because it contravened municipal ordinances, which prohibit the access of dogs on the beaches of both municipalities. They also considered that there were other possible “more suitable†locations for this type of beach, much more accessible to people and animals, and they regretted that what they described as “the last virgin cove of certain dimensions in the Baix Empordà †was used for this use.
But the fact that Belladona cove has only been a dog beach for the blink of an eye has nothing to do with the supposed ecological value that the neighbors opposed to the cove also argued, but rather because of the deficient administrative processing that they have carried out out the two consistories in which it was to be located. The first mistake was made by Calonge, who forgot to include in his plan of uses for the season the document that indicates what activities will take place in its sandbanks, the footage that the dog beach would occupy in his municipality.
In the press conference held by the political leaders at the beginning of April, it was announced that the entire sandy area was going to have this purpose, approximately 2,500 square meters, of which 20% (about 679 meters) belong to Platja d’Aro and the rest, to Calonge. But Calonge only asked Costas de la Generalitat, which is in charge of authorizing the new uses that the beaches will have in each new season, permission to place an informative poster, which specifically occupied one square meter. They forgot to state in the document the meters reserved for the dogs. A mistake that they managed to rectify quickly. But in the rectification of the plan of uses, Calonge no longer claimed that the entire cove was dog-friendly, but only 300 meters from its municipal area. “That distorted the initial idea,” say sources from Platja d’Aro.
There is more. Both municipalities thought that the use plan was sufficient and that it prevailed over their respective municipal ordinances, which in both cases expressly prohibited the presence of dogs on their beaches. The ordinance for the use of beaches in Castell-Platja d’Aro and S’Agaró specifies in its article 25 that “the bathing of domestic animals in the sea is prohibited, as well as the circulation or permanence of animals on the beaches”. The municipal ordinance of the Police and Good Governance of Calonge, in its article 15, also states that the access and presence of dogs is “prohibited” on its beaches.
Such was the Consistory’s confidence that things were being done right that even the mayor of Platja d’Aro signed a mayoral decree in which he requested that, as long as the ordinance on beach use and the control and possession of animals, the presence of dogs on the beach would not be reported. The situation generated completely anomalous situations: the police, with the municipal ordinance in hand, had to fine those who walked their dogs through the arena, but a mayoral decree indicated otherwise.
Finally, the two consistories, seeing that they did not have enough time to modify their respective municipal ordinances before the summer and allow the presence of dogs in this cove, have decided to back down. With the month of June not working, the times for the modification were very “fair”, according to what is used in the two municipalities. It will be the future municipal governments who will decide whether or not they want Cala Belladona to end up being a beach for dogs in the future.
The case does not end here. Opponents of the cove have filed a complaint with the Mossos d’Esquadra, considering that the Platja d’Aro City Council may have committed a crime of administrative prevarication.
