A local political group is proposing a series of buoys serve as a protective barrier to preserve the delicate history of the Island of Tabarca.
The Compromís representative, Cristina Rodríguez, has registered a notion in parliament which would see buoys installed around the island, which, in the high season, sees some 100 leisure boats on a daily basis, each adding its own little bit to the erosion of the protected area.
Similar measures have been proposed in places such as El Portet beach in Teulada-Moraira, and other areas designated as in need of protection.
In a statement, Compromís explained that despite the island already having administrative protection, this doesn’t go far enough, as the number of vessels which visit and drop anchor in the reserve has continued to increase in recent years, arriving from such places as Santa Pola, Guardamar, Torrevieja, the Orihuela Costa, and further afield such as Alicante and the region of Murcia.
The government is urged to begin an environmental impact study on how these boats are affecting the area, as Tabarca received 150,000 tourists through the summer, 65% of the 235,000 annual tourists who land on the island.
“The protection of the marine ecosystems that surround Tabarca has a lot to do with what happens on land, on the island itself, we need to ask ourselves what island we want to have and how to enjoy it,” the statement reads, whilst explaining how the island of just 55 residents receives 235,000 people a year.
