TOWEL WAR IN EUROPE

ANG 

Alenka Sottler

In some areas along the Adriatic sea shore in Croatia municipal wardens have started removing empty beach towels weighted with rocks. The problem is that tourists have firmly adopted the habit of laying the towels on the beach in the late evening or early morning hours to secure their favorite spot. Some tourists even take the trouble of getting up really early and carrying towels to the beach to occupy ‘their’ territory. To make matters worse, the vacation apartment landlords themselves do not mind fulfilling their guests wishes by securing the beloved spot on the beach.

Let me rephrase the above example by saying that we are dealing here with the occupation of a small part of a territory for the benefit of a few people – why does that ring a bell to me? Isn’t that because the countries of Western Europe have similarly marked their part of the planet by building protective boarder fences, forcing their regulations and threatening with power?

I noticed a bug crossing my threshold earlier this day. Is there a law forbidding the bugs to trespass my territory?

If we look beyond the beach towels, stones, the law, customs and refugee centers we can see the laws which apply to universal human rights. The right of every living being to live freely in this Universe and on our planet Earth, to breathe the air, drink clean water, to go swimming and sunbathe, to eat and to move to a place where it feels it can survive.

Let me go back to the beach towels for a moment. I saw a sign in front of a beach in Vodice. It said:

 “It is forbidden to leave your personal belongings during the night and early morning on the beach for reservation purposes. Any items left unattended shall be removed by municipal wardens.”

The offenders were risking a fine of 100 KUN (13€). So far, municipal wardens have only removed the beach towels occupying the beach without giving fines. However, Vodice are not an isolated example. City authorities on the islands Murter (Tisno), Prvić and in Makarska have taken similar measures to prevent beach occupation. Foreign news agencies also reported about similar cases of beach invasion in Spain, where tourists received a fine of 30€.

I guess that Europe should as well put up a sign saying:

‘It is strictly forbidden to fence the countries, close the borders and to protect the country’s territory as a private property of a small number of people who want a comfortable living. Should a country decide to disregard the above law its territory will be taken and laws overturned. Country’s inappropriate behaviour shall result in a fine of XY EUR!


Translated by Sibil Gruntar Vilfan

SLO

Alenka Sottler


V nekaterih krajih ob hrvaški obali so občinski redarji začeli odstranjevati s kamni obtežene brisače, ki jih na plažah pozno zvečer ali v zgodnjih jutranjih urah namestijo turisti, da bi zasedli najboljša mesta ob morju. Nekateri vstanejo že zarana, in še preden popijejo prvo kavo, razpostavijo stvari po »svojem« teritoriju na plaži. Tudi lastniki apartmajev radi ustrežejo gostom s pravočasno namestitvijo brisač na plažah. Ta banalni primer okupacije določenega koščka plaže za koristi le enega ali nekaj posameznikov, mi je dal misliti. Mar nismo zahodnoevropske države označile svoj kos planeta in ga zasedle z zakoni, z grožnjo moči in fizičnimi mejami na podoben način, kot ga v teh dneh z brisačami in kamni okupirajo turisti po sredozemskih plažah?

Danes je na prag pred vhodna vrata prikorakal hrošček in prečkal mojo posest. Je kak zakon, ki prepoveduje prečkanje posesti hroščkom?

Poleg brisač kamnov, mej, zakonov, carin, begunskih centrov obstajajo tudi zakoni, ki so nad vso to civilizacijsko »kramo«. Zakoni in pravice vsakega živega bitja, da se svobodno razvija v tem vesolju in na planetu Zemlja, da diha zrak, pije vodo, se kopa, sonči, prehranjuje in gre tja, kjer čuti, da bo lahko živelo in preživelo.

»Prepovedano je puščati osebne predmete na plaži čez noč in zgodaj zjutraj zaradi rezervacije mest za sončenje. V nasprotnem primeru jih bodo odstranili občinski redarji,«

 so zapisali na tablah pred plažami v Vodicah. Predvideli so tudi kazen v višini 100 kun (13 evrov), a za zdaj pobirajo brisače, za katere ocenjujejo, da »privatizirajo« plaže. Podobne ukrepe kot v Vodicah so uvedle tudi mestne oblasti v Tisnem na otoku Murter, na otoku Prvić, v Makarski in še ponekod. Tuje tiskovne agencije so v preteklih dneh poročale, da so v nekaterih letoviščih v Španiji zaradi podobnega ravnanja turistov začeli zaračunavati tudi po 30 evrov kazni.

 Mar ne bi morali tudi v Evropi zapisati:

 »Prepovedano je ograjevati države, zapirati meje, privatizirati ozemlje za izključno samo eno vrsto državljanov zaradi rezervacije boljšega življenja. V nasprotnem primeru bodo državam ozemlja odvzeta, njihovi zakoni razglašeni za neveljavne, za tako neprimerno obnašanje pa bo predvidena stroga kazen v višini XY EUR!«

foto Alenka Sottler