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Date Published: 23/08/2022

ARCHIVED - Illegal music festival with boats held on Isla del Ciervo, Mar Menor

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The island is a protected natural area, but nearly 100 boats moored there this weekend for a concert

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Illegal music festival with boats held on Isla del Ciervo, Mar Menor

Dozens of boats have gathered by the Isla del Ciervo in the Mar Menor for a huge party and a concert, even though the island is part of the Regional Park of Open Spaces and Islands of the Mar Menor and is a Special Protection Area for Birds (SPA).

There has been outrage and much finger-pointing from political parties and citizens over who could allow such a large and illicit concentration of people and boats in a protected area, especially given the already critical state of the Mar Menor lagoon.

It’s estimated that up to a hundred boats were moored in the water around the Isla del Ciervo to listen to a band playing from the deck of another boat, and there are concerns that they will have been littering the lagoon and damaging its delicate ecosystem.

Royal Decree Law 62/2008 in Spain regulates these types of gatherings, and the one held this weekend “did not have the authorisation”, according to the Maritime Captain in charge of issuing such permits, Óscar Villar.

The Capitanía Marítima (Maritime Captaincy) in Cartagena is investigating the gathering, which was held last Saturday afternoon. The Guardia Civil will also increase surveillance on the Isla del Ciervo and in the rest of the lagoon from this Tuesday to prevent new gatherings.

One of the boats at the illegal party belonged to boat party company Flippa Boat. Partner Diego Paredes said he was unaware that it was an illegal party: “We could have gone anywhere else, as we do every day, but we saw that there was a concert and we wanted to give people who don't have a private boat the chance to come along.”

The maritime captain recalled that it is “totally forbidden” and therefore “illegal” to anchor boats in this area, and assured that they will pursue the culprits responsible.

The question is, who allowed the boats to gather there in the first place and begin setting up a concert if there was no official authorisation? Was it the Regional Government, the Municipal authorities, or did the participants just start up spontaneously on their own?

Environmental groups dedicated to protecting the Mar Menor, such as SOS Mar Menor, denounced the fact that this type of celebration is “very common in summer” and vowed to search for those that authorised the party in order to ask for an explanation and affirmative action at the highest possible level.

“We insist once again: the Mar Menor cannot take any more pressure,” the group said.

The Isla del Ciervo is the southernmost of the islands of the Mar Menor, located to the south of La Manga, in the municipality of Cartagena in the Region of Murcia. Due to its proximity to the coast, it is easily accessible on foot and is home to native botanical species such as the fan palm, the cornical and the wolf’s prickly pear cactus.

Until a few years ago, the island was connected to the mainland by a narrow artificial arm of more than half a kilometre with a road leading to the island. To prevent damage to the island’s fragile ecosystem, this road has recently been demolished to make the island harder to access.

Image: María Marín/Twitter