Spain's Murcia region has launched a summer awareness campaign urging visitors to take their litter home from two protected coastal parks, aiming to reduce the environmental damage caused by waste abandoned on beaches and natural areas.
The initiative, known in Spanish as "Tu basura vuelve contigo," or roughly "Your Trash Comes Back With You," covers the Regional Park of Calblanque, Monte de las Cenizas and Peña del Águila, and the Regional Park of Calnegre and Cabo Cope, both on the coastline. The campaign promotes what it describes as a gesture that is as simple as it is decisive: that every person who visits should leave carrying whatever rubbish they generated during their stay.
The regional autonomous community launched the initiative as part of a broader effort to involve visitors in the conservation of the parks and to reduce the harm caused by waste being abandoned on beaches and in protected natural spaces.
Inmaculada Torres, the director general of Natural Heritage and Climate Action, said the best way to conserve natural spaces is to secure the cooperation of the people who enjoy them. She said that every container or piece of food waste that leaves with its owner is one more step toward keeping landscapes intact for everyone, as those landscapes belong to all.
Torres also said that protecting biodiversity does not depend solely on government authorities, and that it is equally in the hands of each individual visitor, who can have an enormous positive impact on the natural environment through small, everyday gestures.
Calblanque: a shared responsibility
At the Regional Park of Calblanque, Monte de las Cenizas and Peña del Águila, the campaign accompanies the park's summer public-use management programme. Visitors are reminded not to leave waste on beaches, paths or car parks, as abandoned litter damages the landscape and poses a risk to local wildlife.
Torres described conservation at Calblanque as a collective commitment, and said the campaign aims to turn visitors into the park's best allies in protecting it.
Bins removed from Cabo Cope beaches
The campaign has also led to a concrete change in waste management at the Regional Park of Calnegre and Cabo Cope. All bins and litter containers have been removed from the park's beaches, with collection now concentrated at a single designated point.
The regional government says the measure reduces the visual impact of waste infrastructure on the landscape, prevents the wind from scattering loose rubbish, and limits disturbance to local wildlife.
The campaign at both parks is supported by signage, informational materials and the presence of environmental information officers, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.
The Directorate General of Natural Heritage and Climate Action said the abandonment of waste is one of the main threats to coastal ecosystems. The regional government said the initiative reinforces its commitment to making the enjoyment of natural spaces compatible with their conservation.
