Residents protest against unwanted festival

It seems that the residents of El Toyo, in Retamar, Almeria are not at all happy about the surprise announcement of the Dreambeach festival this August. 

A group of about 30 local residents demonstrated in a particularly busy place during the morning of Sunday, January 14, at the end of the Paseo Maritimo de Retamar, right at the access point for more than a thousand people to the beach of Torregarcia on the day of the Pilgrimage of the Virgin of the Sea.

At this rally, protestors informed other Almerians in the area of the situation, and have also collected signatures. “We have doubled what we already had; we had about 300 and we were surprised, because we thought that many neighbours were reluctant and on the contrary,” explains Jesus Maria Rama, a resident of El Toyo for seven years. “We have more than 500 signatures right now and we want to deliver them to the Council registry before the end of January so that they can reach the Mayor.” 

Their main concern? The environmental impact of the Dreambeach celebration in the area. “We live at the gates of the Cabo de Gata Natural Park. If 15,000 people live there (even though 9,000 are registered), we do not know in three or four days the ecological and environmental damage that this can do” explained Jesus.