Over 260 inspections conducted at sea beaches since the start of the summer season in Bulgaria

A total of 261 inspections have been carried out at the Bulgarian sea beaches since the start of the 2022 summer season. No serious problems have been identified, the Ministry of Tourism said on august 115. So far, 81 warnings have been sent to tenants and concessionaires in connection with some violations found.

16 penalties have been imposed for repeated breaches of contractual obligations. Since the beginning of the summer season, 5 administrative violation acts have been issued under the Law on the Spatial Planning of the Black Sea Coast.

As at 15 August 2022, the number of protected sea beaches with concession and lease contracts concluded this summer season is 137. Of these, 88 have been awarded a concession and 49 have been rented out. There are 94 unprotected beaches, 3 are nature tourism beaches.

Some of the beaches have been inspected more than twice. In addition to the implementation of the schedule approved by the Minister, control inspections are carried out to remedy violations already identified.

The Ministry's teams are monitoring the provision of mandatory activities, including water rescue and safety of the adjacent water area, health and medical care and sanitary and hygienic maintenance.

The inspectors check for the presence of signs with guidance, compliance with the obligations to ensure free and free-of-charge access to the beach, the free area provided, which shall not be less than 50% of the active beach area, and the areas for paid-for accessories.

The inspections are also aimed at checking the compliance with the requirement that relocatable sites and facilities (for health, medical and sanitary services, for water rescue and sports and leisure activities, for fast food and for the maintenance of the beach) should not occupy a total area of more than 2 % of the beach, and that relocatable sites and facilities outside those agreed in the scheme should not be allowed.