Page 7 - HOH

A7
LOCAL Tuesday 27 december 2022

Removal of palapas at the beach causing commotion

ORANJESTAD – Recently on it used to be on previous ment the hotel became
social media, debate is on- years. The only thing we Barceló demonstrates it.”
going regarding the pala- have tried to do is improve
pas that are slowly being the appearance and On social media, tourists
removed from the beach make the pool area and its have been expressing their
in front of Barcelo hotel. surrounding gardens more frustration on this subject.
The idea seems to be to pleasant, as is easy to ap- One person in particular
replace these with coco- preciate after the takeover pointed out that they are
nut trees, something that is by Barceló Group. How- canceling their reservation
causing confusion and re- ever, to place more chairs for Aruba, because a co-
actions both amongst our or loungers would be going conut tree does not offer
locals and our visitors. against the safety guide- enough shade and protec-
lines established by local tion from the heat of the
It is known that beaches in authorities. sun.
Aruba are all public and In case of an emergency
are not the property of any there are two meeting Another one mentioned
hotel. For this reason, pala- points: one of them be- that as a time share owner
pas on the beach are also ing the beach. So, to keep and member of the Royal
considered public property the area safe for an even- Club Barcelo, they pay a
and can be used by who- tual evacuation we cannot sum for maintenance that
ever arrives first. place more furniture,” ac- includes use of a palapa.
cording to the statement. Tourists who pay for the all-
There are exceptions, for inclusive are also paying
example, if the property “It has always been the for the use of a palapa; but
line for the hotel extends aim of the management to seeing now as they will not
to a certain point on the keep the beach as natural be able to use a palapa,
beach, or if the hotel has as possible and to maintain they are asking what the
reached an agreement the natural look of the sur- hotel is doing to compen-
with the government to roundings taking into con- sate for this cost.
privatize the use of the sideration the environment.
palapas, leaving the hotel Barceló Group has always For the palapas that are still
to build the palapas itself. respected the nature and remaining on the beach,
has vowed to not only keep there is a system of reser-
Lack of clarity on this sub- the grounds clean but also vation, and the palapas
ject has led to confusion to do limited damage to get reserved very quickly.
and displeasure among lo- the beach, because for us Another tourist comment-
cals and tourists who make sustainability is one of our ed: “There is a reason why
use of the palapas to pro- great purposes. people wake up at 4am
tect themselves from the to reserve a palapa. They
scolding sun in Aruba while “The palapas have been a want and need shade. The
they enjoy a beach day. point of discussion for many coconut trees do not give
Seeing the reactions on so- years and to avoid this to enough shade.”
cial media, Barcelo Group continue it has been decid-
published a statement on ed to eliminate them and However, there are others
their official Facebook ac- to replant coconut trees in who support the hotel’s de-
count addressing the com- their places. Barceló Aruba cision to remove the dete-
motion around this topic. is the only property of the riorated palapas instead of
Barceló Group that has fixing them, and replacing
“It has been brought to our palapas on the beach and them with coconut trees,
attention that there have this is against our standard. and they point out that

been discussions going on Therefore we will be taking coconut trees do provide
regarding the chair sav- down the palapas gradu- enough shade and protec-
ing and palapas situation ally as they deteriorate tion from the sun.
following a post on social and replant coconut trees However, lack of clarity on
media. Barceló Aruba to provide the necessary the legality of the situation
Management would like to shades. leaves unanswered ques-
clarify that the number of We have always been clear tions: if the beach is pub-
chairs or loungers that are and consistent with this lic, does a hotel have the
around the Pool Area cur- policy and this sign posted power to remove palapas
rently are more than what on the beach from the mo- and plant coconut trees?q