Puerto Real approves the beach ordinance: fines of up to 3,000 euros

The Puerto Real City Council has definitively approved the Municipal Ordinance Regulating the Use, Safety, Environmental Protection, and Coexistence on Beaches, a text that regulates camping and motorhomes, marking and nautical channels, street vending, and a sanctioning regime ranging from 100 to 3,000 euros. The edict containing the full text is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Cádiz number 203, dated October 21, 2026 (pages 8 to 23). The regulation will not enter into force until fifteen business days have passed since this publication, in accordance with article 65.2 of Law 7/1985.

The Plenary of the Corporation initially approved the ordinance on April 30, 2026, and subsequently submitted it to a thirty-day period of public information and hearing, announced in BOP number 92, dated May 18, 2026, and rectified via an announcement in number 104, dated June 3. Once the allegations were resolved, the Plenary of September 24, 2026, agreed to the definitive approval by 12 votes in favor —Confluencia de Izquierdas para la Gente, ADELANTE Andalucía, and PSOE—, no votes against, and 6 abstentions —AxSÍ-Andalucistas, PP, VOX, and the non-affiliated councilwoman Garrido Rodríguez—. The edict is signed in Puerto Real, on October 5, 2026, by the mayor-president Aurora Salvador Colorado and the acting general secretary Sebastián Pizarro Colorado.

The proposal originated from the deputy mayor delegated for Green and Blue Infrastructure, Antonio Gil Berrocal, with a justifying report by the Environmental Management technician Rosario Málaga Quijada, dated April 15, 2026, and a technical-legal report dated August 28, 2026. The scope covers the five beaches included in the Beach Operation Plan, which has a favorable regional resolution for the occupation of the maritime-terrestrial public domain (file AUT01-24-CA-0005):

• La Cachucha
• La Media Luneta
• La Ministra
• El Conchal
• Los Espigones

Camping, motorhomes, and overnight stays

The ordinance generally prohibits camping and overnight stays directly on beaches, dunes, and other coastal areas, unless express authorization is granted. However, it establishes that the mere presence or resting of people inside a motorhome, caravan, or vehicle equipped as a dwelling, correctly parked on a road or parking lot where parking is permitted, does not in itself constitute camping, provided that the activity is not extended to the exterior through furniture, the deployment of elements, or waste discharge.

The text thus incorporates the allegation of the State Caravanning Platform (P.E.K.A.), an association with CIF G-93600005, submitted by Sara Fernández Pastor under entry registry 2026-E-RE-7174, dated June 30, 2026, which has been substantially upheld. Conversely, the claim that the passage of 72 hours automatically transforms lawful parking into camping is dismissed due to a lack of regulatory basis. The modifications affect articles 5.m), 27, 35, 66, 69, 71, 72, and 73.

Beaconing, nautical channels, and prohibited uses

The section dedicated to the use of the sea establishes two nautical channels in the municipality: the one located in front of the Caño de Cortadura, between La Ministra and El Conchal, and that of La Cachucha, the latter also enabled for the entry and exit of kitesurf, paddlesurf, windsurf, and wingfoil practitioners. Bathing, staying, and beaching are prohibited within the channels, and beaconing buoys may not be used as mooring points.

Within the scope of the Bahía de Cádiz Natural Park, motorized navigation may not exceed 3 knots, and navigation with jet skis is totally prohibited. Street vending and profit-making activities without municipal authorization, the consumption of drinks in glass containers on the sand, and fires and barbecues between June 1 and October 15 are also prohibited—outside of this period, only in the enabled areas next to the San Pedro River, called Batalla de El Trocadero and Defensa de las Libertades—and acoustic limits are set at 70 dBA during the day and 65 dBA in the evening and at night. The dog beach will be delimited each season by municipal decree or proclamation.

Fines from 100 to 3,000 euros

The sanctioning regime, reorganized to ensure “internal coherence, typicality, and proportionality,” establishes three scales:

• Minor infractions: fine from 100 to 750 euros.
• Serious infractions: fine from 751 to 1,500 euros.
• Very serious infractions: fine from 1,501 to 3,000 euros.

Serious conduct includes street vending without authorization, the parking or circulation of vehicles on the beach without authorization, and prohibited camping or overnight stays with relevant disturbance. Recidivism is assessed within a one-year period and allows for the upward grading of the sanction and the imposition of accessory measures. The admission of responsibility with voluntary payment reduces the fine by at least 20%. Minor infractions expire after one year, serious ones after two years, and very serious ones after three.

An administrative-law appeal may be filed against the agreement before the Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Andalusia, based in Seville, within two months from the day following its publication.

The ordinance replaces the absence of “updated, systematic, and specific” municipal regulation on the matter and arrives with the bathing season already closed, meaning its first full summer of application will be 2027. It equally affects residents, tourists, holders of seasonal services —sunbeds, umbrellas, catering, nautical schools— and motorhome users, who from now on have a clear criterion separating regulatory parking from camping, but also a broader catalog of prohibitions and fines along the coast of Puerto Real.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Cádiz, no. 203, of October 21, 2026, Local Administration, pp. 8-23 (official reference: edict of the City Council of Puerto Real regarding the final approval of the Municipal Ordinance Regulating the Use, Safety, Environmental Protection, and Coexistence on the Beaches of the municipal district of Puerto Real).