Turisme announces a guide enabling the beaches to open with the maximum safety conditions
The guide brings together organisational aspects and suggestions for safety measures to maintain social distancing
![[Img #78808]](http://el7set.es/upload/images/06_2020/3440_playa-sombrillas1.jpg)
The Valencian Community Tourism department has sent a document to councils where there are beaches, both on the shores and continental, so that the destinations could open these areas with the maximum safety conditions and guarantees for all users.
Previously, the autonomous Tourism secretary, Francesc Colomer, announced this document in a meeting to coordinate emergencies about coronavirus in the Generalitat. The meeting, held by video-conference, was presided over by the Consellera for Justice, Home Office, and Public Administration, Gabriela Bravo, and the Conseller for Territory, Arcadi España, and the consellera for Innovation, Carolina Pascual, took part as well as the autonomous Tourism secretary, Francesc Colomer.
During this meeting information was shared which had been prepared with the cooperation of all the departments in the Generalitat, the different ministries with responsibilities in this respect, and other bodies such as the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces.
The guide seeks to be complete and specific regarding the singularities of the Valencian coastline and the measures in the national field approved by central Government in the ‘Protocol for Measures for the reduction of hygiene-health risks in the face of COVID-19 for beaches’.
The Valencian Tourism department has assessed that the document brings together actions responding to the Community’s territorial peculiarities, as well as reinforcing the desire for differentiation by quality, sustainability and hospitality and, at a time like this, by safety.
Therefore, starting from the established requirement of obligatory compliance, it sets out a series of proposals which facilitate the use of the beaches in safe conditions for all users and with control and monitoring for management.
The objective is to contribute so that councils can open their beaches with the maximum guarantees and states that the propagation of COVID-19 in the sea water and on the sand is relatively reduced, according to the reports to which it has had access, so by applying the corresponding measures, “the beaches are safe places in this uncertain time”, according to Colomer.
During the process of preparing this guide, as well as Turisme CV, different scientific agents, specialist technicians in management processes and their application to the beaches, as well as officers from various Consell departments with competencies appropriate to beaches, i.e. the Universal Health and Public Health Conselleria, the Valencian Agency for safety and Response to Emergencies, the Valencian Institute for Safety and Health at Work, the Conselleria for Territorial Policy, Public Works and Mobility and the Conselleria for Justice, Home Affairs and Public Administration; as well as the Government Delegation.
The “Safe Beaches” document combines organisational aspects regarding the management of both maritime and continental beaches, such as how the management body should be configured, the competencies and basic tasks and suggestions for safety measures to maintain social distancing.
TCV explained that “in the majority of cases, the most complex recommendations are accompanied by proposals with their possible risks and what strengthening measures would help their implementation” and it was stressed that “this is a document which is complete, wide ranging, very consensual with multiple agents and departments and a practical focus to demonstrate that we can be a Living Mediterranean and also safe on our beaches”.
For this situation, Turisme Comunitat Valenciana has organised different seminars on the web for coastal beaches, structured by province, and also one specifically for continental beaches, dealing with all the doubts that can arise from the councils and can be dealt with at a practical and technical level.
Principal proposals in the guide
The guide advises the beach management bodies (councils) on different suggestions to guarantee a safe beach. The document recommends governance through a management body for each beach, as well as the creation of a Safety Committee for each beach, with a principal representative with authority in charge of coordinating the services implied. This body will be responsible to make the decisions on safety material and will be made up by representants from all strategic departments. Similarly, it will be the body responsible for defining the strategy to be followed and the design of a Contingency Plan.
The Contingency Plan must be based on three principles: safe capacity and accesses; complementary services and the clear and concise transmission of information.
The “Safe Beaches” guide also urges the use of a flag with a complementary emblem which would warn of the need to completely close a beach immediately in the event of high risk.
At the same time, it emphasises the need to control accesses to the beaches and to reinforce vigilance to ensure correct compliance with the code of conduct by users. Regarding accesses, it offers recommendations to mark out areas, both on the sand and in the water, or signing measures for cleaning and the fragmentation of opening times and sectors, among others.
It must be remembered that Turisme, in cooperation with the Conselleria for Innovation, Universities, Science and Digital Society and the Conselleria for Territorial Policy, Public Works and Mobility is working on the design of a web site accessible from all types of mobile devices with any operating system to facilitate up-dating the information concerning the level of occupation on the beaches.
The Generalitat’s guide to enjoying safe beaches also dedicates a chapter to health and hygiene services and leisure and sport, where it recommends daily cleaning of the sand, advising against disinfecting it, increasing the frequency of analysing the sand, among other practical recommendations.
As long as it is viable in the case of health cubicles and mobile wc’s, it is suggested that it would be best to avoid installing them (particularly those situated on sandy areas on maritime beaches) in order to protect the cleaning measures adopted, among other aspects.
Regarding showers and foot baths, it is recommended that they can be put into operation as long as social distancing conditions, cleanliness and disinfection of the installations can be guaranteed and it is advised that the managing bodies take some measure to avoid build-ups of people in these facilities in rush hours.
The guide also recommends removing all the waste bins, telling beach users that there is a waste collection point installed at the accesses to the beach.
Regarding leisure and sport services, it is recommended that the sunbeds and sun umbrellas are distributed to ensure safe social distancing between users and groups, with the umbrella stands having to be installed equally distanced, more than 4 metres apart.
Turisme CV recommends closing children’s play areas and exercise areas on the beaches until later phases.
Finally, there are some verification pages in an annex for the drawing up of a Contingency Plan, facilitating the work of safeguarding the safety of all users by the councils.
The Valencian Community Tourism department has sent a document to councils where there are beaches, both on the shores and continental, so that the destinations could open these areas with the maximum safety conditions and guarantees for all users.
Previously, the autonomous Tourism secretary, Francesc Colomer, announced this document in a meeting to coordinate emergencies about coronavirus in the Generalitat. The meeting, held by video-conference, was presided over by the Consellera for Justice, Home Office, and Public Administration, Gabriela Bravo, and the Conseller for Territory, Arcadi España, and the consellera for Innovation, Carolina Pascual, took part as well as the autonomous Tourism secretary, Francesc Colomer.
During this meeting information was shared which had been prepared with the cooperation of all the departments in the Generalitat, the different ministries with responsibilities in this respect, and other bodies such as the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces.
The guide seeks to be complete and specific regarding the singularities of the Valencian coastline and the measures in the national field approved by central Government in the ‘Protocol for Measures for the reduction of hygiene-health risks in the face of COVID-19 for beaches’.
The Valencian Tourism department has assessed that the document brings together actions responding to the Community’s territorial peculiarities, as well as reinforcing the desire for differentiation by quality, sustainability and hospitality and, at a time like this, by safety.
Therefore, starting from the established requirement of obligatory compliance, it sets out a series of proposals which facilitate the use of the beaches in safe conditions for all users and with control and monitoring for management.
The objective is to contribute so that councils can open their beaches with the maximum guarantees and states that the propagation of COVID-19 in the sea water and on the sand is relatively reduced, according to the reports to which it has had access, so by applying the corresponding measures, “the beaches are safe places in this uncertain time”, according to Colomer.
During the process of preparing this guide, as well as Turisme CV, different scientific agents, specialist technicians in management processes and their application to the beaches, as well as officers from various Consell departments with competencies appropriate to beaches, i.e. the Universal Health and Public Health Conselleria, the Valencian Agency for safety and Response to Emergencies, the Valencian Institute for Safety and Health at Work, the Conselleria for Territorial Policy, Public Works and Mobility and the Conselleria for Justice, Home Affairs and Public Administration; as well as the Government Delegation.
The “Safe Beaches” document combines organisational aspects regarding the management of both maritime and continental beaches, such as how the management body should be configured, the competencies and basic tasks and suggestions for safety measures to maintain social distancing.
TCV explained that “in the majority of cases, the most complex recommendations are accompanied by proposals with their possible risks and what strengthening measures would help their implementation” and it was stressed that “this is a document which is complete, wide ranging, very consensual with multiple agents and departments and a practical focus to demonstrate that we can be a Living Mediterranean and also safe on our beaches”.
For this situation, Turisme Comunitat Valenciana has organised different seminars on the web for coastal beaches, structured by province, and also one specifically for continental beaches, dealing with all the doubts that can arise from the councils and can be dealt with at a practical and technical level.
Principal proposals in the guide
The guide advises the beach management bodies (councils) on different suggestions to guarantee a safe beach. The document recommends governance through a management body for each beach, as well as the creation of a Safety Committee for each beach, with a principal representative with authority in charge of coordinating the services implied. This body will be responsible to make the decisions on safety material and will be made up by representants from all strategic departments. Similarly, it will be the body responsible for defining the strategy to be followed and the design of a Contingency Plan.
The Contingency Plan must be based on three principles: safe capacity and accesses; complementary services and the clear and concise transmission of information.
The “Safe Beaches” guide also urges the use of a flag with a complementary emblem which would warn of the need to completely close a beach immediately in the event of high risk.
At the same time, it emphasises the need to control accesses to the beaches and to reinforce vigilance to ensure correct compliance with the code of conduct by users. Regarding accesses, it offers recommendations to mark out areas, both on the sand and in the water, or signing measures for cleaning and the fragmentation of opening times and sectors, among others.
It must be remembered that Turisme, in cooperation with the Conselleria for Innovation, Universities, Science and Digital Society and the Conselleria for Territorial Policy, Public Works and Mobility is working on the design of a web site accessible from all types of mobile devices with any operating system to facilitate up-dating the information concerning the level of occupation on the beaches.
The Generalitat’s guide to enjoying safe beaches also dedicates a chapter to health and hygiene services and leisure and sport, where it recommends daily cleaning of the sand, advising against disinfecting it, increasing the frequency of analysing the sand, among other practical recommendations.
As long as it is viable in the case of health cubicles and mobile wc’s, it is suggested that it would be best to avoid installing them (particularly those situated on sandy areas on maritime beaches) in order to protect the cleaning measures adopted, among other aspects.
Regarding showers and foot baths, it is recommended that they can be put into operation as long as social distancing conditions, cleanliness and disinfection of the installations can be guaranteed and it is advised that the managing bodies take some measure to avoid build-ups of people in these facilities in rush hours.
The guide also recommends removing all the waste bins, telling beach users that there is a waste collection point installed at the accesses to the beach.
Regarding leisure and sport services, it is recommended that the sunbeds and sun umbrellas are distributed to ensure safe social distancing between users and groups, with the umbrella stands having to be installed equally distanced, more than 4 metres apart.
Turisme CV recommends closing children’s play areas and exercise areas on the beaches until later phases.
Finally, there are some verification pages in an annex for the drawing up of a Contingency Plan, facilitating the work of safeguarding the safety of all users by the councils.
