The administration of Fuerteventura Airport, which serves the Spanish island of the Canary Islands, warned tourists about the ban on taking out of the resort … beach sand. A statement of uniqueness and responsibility for violators was issued by the Spanish airport management.
Over the past four months, the airport officials have had to confiscate more than 4,500 kg of sand, stones, turtles and rhodolites, or more precisely: 640 kg of white sand, 309 kg of black sand, 452 kg of rhodolites and 240 kg of fossils. The average annual “forbidden” is from 600 to 800 kg per month. Police even use X-rays to detect tourists in luggage during customs inspections at airports.
The Fuerteventura Council has issued a reminder to residents and tourists about the laws on the removal of sand “in memory”. Every year, the airport authorities are forced to return to the beach thousands of kilograms of stolen sand to the former place after finding this material in the luggage of tourists. The souvenir is confiscated at the airport by the Civil Guard, and then specialists classify each type of material by category and return it to its rightful place – in the natural environment.
Many tourists visit Fuerteventura to see its beautiful beaches. The most popular “souvenir” taken by tourists from the popular island – sand. However, not many people understand that removing sand from the beach can affect the natural environment of the island. In 2019, officials were outraged by the number of tourists who decided to bring home a unique “popcorn sand” from the beach on Fuerteventura.
The unusual beach is covered with fossilized algae, resembling thousands of pieces of fluffy popcorn. Some travelers were so fascinated by popcorn that they did not hesitate to take it to their countries in buckets. According to the mayor of the resort island, sooner or later the situation got out of control. If before the beach was a very secluded place, then since tourists began to talk on social networks about the unique place, there was a stream of vacationers and everyone tried to take a piece of Fuerteventura as a memory.
Earlier, the DIP wrote about this beach, more in the article “In the Canary Islands found a beach on which instead of sand, popcorn.”
In this regard, the leaders of the Council began to warn travelers that their thefts do more harm than good to the island and said that one of the most beautiful beaches in Spain should not feel the traces of human presence. The Ministry of Ecology reminded foreign tourists that the attempt to remove part of the beach from the Spanish resort is classified as a violation and entails sanctions under Law 42/2007 of 13 December “On Natural Heritage and Biodiversity”.
However, theft of sand is a fairly common crime around the world, and many tourists do not know the rules:
- For example, many travelers took pink sand from the beautiful beach of Elafonisi in Greece, until the authorities banned it. However, it is believed that the stunning pink beach will not be restored to its former state due to its stretching in parts.
- It is also illegal to take sand or shells off the beach on the beautiful island of Sardinia in Italy. In 2020, 41 people were caught trying to steal sand from the islands and fined 3,000 euros (90,000 hryvnias).
For those who care about a healthy lifestyle, we recommend reading: “Scientists have identified psychological types of people who are prone to being overweight.”