A comment to the new Catalan regional law on the protection and planning of the coastline
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
The aim of the Catalan regional Law 8/2020, of July 30, on the protection and planning of the coastline, is the proper regulation of the integrated management of the competences of the three levels of the administration involved. The Law achieves this objective in a satisfactory manner in the distribution of powers between the regional level –the Generalitat– and the local level –municipalities– through the following two tools: the Plan for the protection and management of the coastline and the plans for the use of the coastline and beaches. However, the Law does not achieve this objective regarding the relations between the central and regional governments. It is not solved the imbalance between the central government, which collects most of the income from the maritimeterrestrial public domain, and the regional government which assumes a large part of the executive powers in this area. The new fee that charges the exploitation of activities that require a concession from the regional government should have a limited scope. In general terms, it should be ensured that the income derived from the fees for the occupation or use of the maritime-terrestrial public domain are effectively used for the improvement, conservation, recovery, and restoration of the latter.