Ciudad de Mar inicia la campaña informativa vinculada al mensaje Las Canteras playa saludable libre de humos

Transmitting the environmental and social benefits associated with smoke-free beaches is the goal of the Enjoy - Respect awareness campaign, which the Ciudad de Mar Council will develop during 2018 on the beaches of the capital. The initiative, which has begun coinciding with Holy Week the first major holiday period of the year, is directly linked to the result of the public consultation that the Consistory held last December and which resulted in Las Canteras becoming the first beach of the capital 100% smoke free.

This informative campaign is the first step of a process that, according to the councilor of Ciudad de Mar, José Eduardo Ramírez, "will conclude this year" with the inclusion in the Municipal Regulations of Beaches of the scope of the prohibition and the sanctioning regime.

"Meanwhile," explained the mayor, "our goal is to generate a positive attitude of coexistence and collective complicity among the population in this process of improving the beach. For this we will focus on communicating the reasons and arguments that give meaning to this limitation of smoking in one of the most privileged public spaces we have. "

The mayor made it clear that until the Regulation has been approved, the council can only recommend and inform, not ban smoking on the beach.

Therefore, the information campaign will encourage smokers to refrain from lighting cigarettes when they are in the sand on the beach.

"It's about working at the informative level to promote healthy habits and facilitate the gradual implementation of the measure before the new regulations come into force." To this end, Ciudad de Mar will use social networks, the public address system on the beach and during the holidays and weekends will have the largest number of bathers, with the presence of informants on the beach and the promenade, to attend to the citizens and solve their doubts.

The beginning of the campaign was staged on Tuesday at the terrace The Block, in the area of La Cícer, with the participation of the music band Playa Coco, @playacocomusic, who has covered one of their recent songs 'Number 1', with the motto of the campaign.

Surf schools and companies of beach activities such as beach tennis and canoeing, as well as representatives of the municipal services that carry out their work on the beach and are in permanent contact with the public, Local Police, cleaning and rescue and first aid have joined to the initiative.

The City Council will have informants who will travel the beach on weekends and holidays to resolve any doubts that users have about this matter. Information brochures will also be distributed explaining the health, environmental and coexistence reasons on which the initiative is based.

The actor and comedian Rafa del Pino acts as a master of ceremony and animator of the online campaign. This will create fun situations among bathers who will be edited in short videos, in order to raise awareness about the care of the beaches of the city.

Although the campaign will have a special impact on the beach without smoke, the need to reduce and separate waste properly, save water from showers and footbaths and respect the life and environment of the different species that have their habitat in the bathing area, are messages in which it will insist.

New regulation

Ramírez explained that Ciudad de Mar will have a draft of the new beach regulations closed within a period of about two months. "We will open this document to the opinion of experts and professionals who help us to enrich the text in different sectoral meetings."

In this regard, the mayor recalled that the amendment will not only affect the ban on smoking in Las Canteras but will include regulatory adaptations in relation to the Coastal Law and new sport, social, economic and tourist uses on the beaches of the city.

This process of administrative change will serve to "generate an active and educational attitude on the part of all in this process of improving the beach, We will focus while, in transmitting and communicating the reasons and arguments that give meaning to the smoking limitation", said Ramírez.

In parallel, Ciudad de Mar will strengthen, in the coming months, the areas of access to the sand with ashtrays-paper, which facilitate smokers, do so comfortably and respectfully with the environment and with other users. .

The signage and signage of the beach and the promenade will be modified at the time of the entry into force of the new regulations, adapting to the new situation of "smoke free beach".

The consultation among citizens on the implementation of the smoking ban in Las Canteras took place last December. The consultation was mainly carried out online through the platform www.tudecides.laspalmasgc.es and votes were collected in the street and in the