Who owns the beaches?

I am one of those who enjoy reading The Sunday Times by the beach on an early Sunday morning. To try to get some relief from the heat my family goes to the beach as early as possible on Sunday.

We usually go to Ghadira, right in front of the Seabank Hotel. We are usually there by 8 to 8.15 a.m. and, believe it or not, we have hardly enough space to put two chairs and an umbrella in place since the whole bay is already taken up by the people running these beach concessions. It is useless to say that at that time 99 per cent of the sunbeds and umbrellas are still empty.

In fact yesterday I just decided to remove their equipment and put my stuff in place. Other people who came after me did the same thing. The situation is getting so ridiculous that these people are taking our beaches.

I have travelled around and have never seen such abuse taking place. I recall when I went to the States for my honeymoon and spent a day at Coco Beach in Florida. As you may imagine, the beach is never ending but when we arrived at around 10 a.m. the only umbrellas around were the ones you rent for the day from a kiosk on the beach. These umbrellas are placed in the sand when they are rented out and not before.

I hope that this letter could start a small revolution in order to gain some space on our beaches. (Piero Selvaggi)

I contacted the police, who were very helpful. Indeed, the renowned friendly English Bobby does not have a monopoly on being helpful.

The point is that, although there are specific laws, one has to bear in mind that the concessions issued to the respective concessionaires may vary and each case has to be assessed on its own merits.

If you have any problems and cannot place your own umbrella and deckchair due to the beach space being occupied by vacant deck chairs and umbrellas, you are advised to report the matter to the nearest Police Station.

I take the opportunity to thank Inspectors Joseph Mercieca and Kenneth Haber for their co-operation.