SOS Costa Brava has called for urgent enforcement of rules protecting Posidonia seagrass meadows in the Empordà, naming the bays of el Golfet and Palamós and the Cap de Creus Natural Park. In an appeal reported in August 2026, the federation said action was urgent because pollution, overexploitation and warmer Mediterranean water are reducing marine ecosystems’ capacity to withstand further damage.

For swimmers, walkers, paddleboarders and boat users at the coves between Palamós and Mont-ras, the issue also concerns safety. SOS Costa Brava said safety and mooring buoys have been stolen or vandalised since 2024, making them harder to replace in smaller municipalities with fewer tourism and nautical-sector resources.

Federation seeks joint coastal management

The federation wants a shared management model covering both land and sea in protected coastal areas of the Empordà. It said the model should bring together responses to pressure on the coast, protect brown-algae forests as well as Posidonia, and support marine ecosystem recovery.

  • Posidonia protection should be enforced in el Golfet bay, Palamós bay and the Cap de Creus Natural Park.
  • Protected areas should have approved management plans and governing bodies, with a common and sufficient budget.
  • Protection should not depend on each municipality’s financial capacity, SOS Costa Brava said.
“The protection of natural areas cannot be conditional on the economic capacity of each municipality.”SOS Costa Brava

SOS Costa Brava said Palamós and Palafrugell have greater capacity to install and maintain safety and mooring buoys because of income linked to tourism and nautical activity. It contrasted this with Mont-ras, which it said faces similar pressure on its coastline with fewer resources.

The federation reported that, during the summer, a buoy was punctured between Palamós and Mont-ras and sank, while buoys disappeared from one of Mont-ras’s coves. It said such incidents delay replacement work in Mont-ras and affect people arriving at the coves on foot, by swimming, paddleboard or boat.

Cap de Creus rules cover 3,000 marine hectares

Cap de Creus has a separate approved management framework. According to reporting by Maria Garcia in May 2025, the park’s governing board definitively approved its Pla Rector d’Ús i Gestió, a management plan regulating sporting, recreational, educational and scientific activity across 3,000 hectares of sea.

The rules apply particularly in three partial natural reserves: els Farallons, between el Brescó and Punta dels Tres Frares; Cap de Creus, between Illa de Culleró and Cala Jugadora; and Cap Norfeu. The area contains seagrass meadows, coral habitats and associated wildlife, while receiving heavy use during the tourist season.

Visitors using the sea within the park must follow restrictions that include:

  • no boat parties;
  • no jet skis, except for authorised guided-tour operators and residents registered in municipalities within the park;
  • limits on the number of diving and recreational fishing businesses operating there.

The Generalitat’s Minister for Territory, Sílvia Paneque, said in May 2025 that the regulations would be introduced gradually and that an artificial-intelligence video-surveillance system would be tested to monitor compliance.

SOS Costa Brava also referred to the campaign that stopped an 1980s proposal for a marina with 1,100 berths, buildings, hotels and roads at Cap Roig-Castell. The area was subsequently designated an Espai d’Interès Natural, a protected natural-interest site.

Reported by emporda.info, Maria Garcia, L'Empordà.