The initial approval of the Municipal Planning in 2015 foresees the elimination of most of the pine forests on coastal and continental dunes in the Pals Beach, over different areas like Rodors, Pineda de Pals and Pals Mar. A very threatened and rare habitat in the world, which is to be converted into macro-urbanizations with 160,000 m2 of built area and more than 3,500 second residences 7 km from Pedró walled town, which will be left empty practically all year round, generating very few jobs and a seasonal and precarious economic activity (Source: Idescat and the Costa Brava Tourist Board).
At the same time, the municipality will accumulate 82% of secondary housing, well above other seasonal municipalities on the Costa Brava, such as other cities with massive tourism like Lloret de Mar or Playa de Aro.
With a decreasing population of 2,500 inhabitants, and a seasonal population of more than 10,000 people, currently Pals is the municipality with the largest disproportion of seasonal population in all of Catalonia..
The sewage network and pumping stations are insufficient and the quality of bathing water from the sea worsens every year.
The saline wedge advances dangerously due to the over extraction of the aquifer, which already reaches Parlavà town, through the wells of Gualta from where the water is extracted by the municipalities of Pals, Palafrugell, Begur, Regencós and Torrent. If the new macro-urbanizations planned by the Council are built in Pals beach, this aquifer and wells will come to its end, and other populated towns like Begur or Palafrugell will be left without enough drinking water.
Currently the streets in the beach area are in very poor conditions and overwhelmed by increased traffic with poor, seasonal public transport and without a bike path to the beachwhich, due to the flat terrain of the municipality, would allow a more sustainable mobility, segregated from road traffic and especially appreciated by many of our visitors.
The lack of security personnel (police and rural agents) in a large municipality in a large municipality like Pals with extraordinary seasonality and the reduction of the resident population and its resources generates a potential risk, both for ecosystems and for buildings, especially in the beach. Saber-ne més.