The coalition For a Dignified Ensenada, made up of more than 40 civil, scientific, environmental, and community organizations, responded to Secretary of the Navy Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles, stating that “waves don’t move; they are a non-renewable natural resource, the result of specific phenomena… that cannot be replicated.” In response to his proposal to build a wave park for surfers in exchange for allowing the construction of a cargo port in El Sauzal, the coalition responded that a linear park on San Miguel Beach would be the alternative for big wave lovers. During President Claudia Sheinbaum’s morning press conference yesterday, he presented the project to expand the port of Ensenada to the El Sauzal area.
Admiral Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles suggested that “the waves are moving further north” when announcing the linear park project.
The coalition responded bluntly: “Waves don’t move; they are a non-renewable natural resource, the result of specific phenomena of tides, ocean depths, and marine currents that cannot be replicated.”
And they warned that the project would destroy waves that are part of the World Surfing Reserve, in addition to affecting beaches that have been breeding grounds for entire generations of surfers due to “the nobility of those waves.”
Environmental intervention criticized: “non-native palm trees will be planted”
Another controversial point of the project is the construction of a “coastal corridor” on San Miguel Beach, which was presented as a compensation measure for the loss of beaches. The coalition criticized the presentation of a rendering showing “the beach will be covered with wood and palm trees (a species not native to the region) will be planted,” which, they claim, will completely alter the coastal ecosystem.
“The project will destroy the habitat of coastal birds and completely change the uses and customs of beach users,” states the statement issued by the community.
The surfing community does not perceive the “coastal corridor” as real compensation, as “the wave will disappear due to the phenomena explained above.”
Concerns are compounded by the report of a massive diesel spill that occurred on July 22 at Stacks Beach, which spread throughout Todos Santos Bay. According to the coalition, the event caused “irreversible damage to marine life and the health of the population,” with no identification of the person responsible.
They also accuse ASIPONA of maintaining “total secrecy” and of suppressing the most recent peaceful demonstration, closing a municipal street “with armed personnel and riot police, seriously violating the population’s right to protest and free expression.”
A Direct Appeal to Claudia Sheinbaum
Finally, the coalition demands that President Claudia Sheinbaum fulfill her promise of dialogue made during her visit to Ensenada: “Almost two weeks after her visit, the promised dialogue with Ensenada Digna has not been fulfilled.”
They remind her that the opposition movement is neither isolated nor improvised, but rather brings together academics, scientists, surfers, fishermen, winemakers, environmental groups, artists, and residents concerned about the “expected externalities of this project.”
The disputed territory includes El Sauzal to Maneadero, and to the east, the Valle de Guadalupe, the coalition said, emphasizing that more than 14,500 signatures have been collected in opposition to the port expansion, which would mean the disappearance of iconic beaches such as 3Ms, Stacks, Frijolitos, and Patos, considered “hotbeds of new generations of surfers.”
The statement concludes: “We demand that President Claudia Sheinbaum’s promise of dialogue be fulfilled.”
Source: jornada
