Dozens of Puerto Ricans reaffirmed this weekend the message that the beaches are public or of the people in a peaceful protest in an area of the metropolitan beach of “Ocean Park” where a couple of residents tried to prohibit access to players of tennis.
The call of the Puerto Ricans for the “Ocean Wepalooza” was attended, on Saturday, by hundreds of people, who raised the mesh for a massive beach tennis event in clear I challenge the claims of a couple of neighbors who, having invested $1 million in their home, believed they owned the beach.
In a video of the altercation of the 25 in January, is seen when a man sits in the sand to prevent visitors from playing tennis. His wife argues, while they record it, that the visitors cannot comment because they did not spend the $1 million to buy their home.
“When you buy a house for $1 million dollars, you can give your opinion here”,
“It is not your beach, it is not your island”, answers one of the players.
In the beach event, the musical exchange also stood out, with exhibitions of plena and bomba, two genres of native Puerto Rican music. In addition, merchants and other people gave free water and food to the participants.
Puerto Ricans also enjoyed their beaches through volleyball tournaments and kickboxing classes, among other activities.
But this time, the Puerto Rican nicknamed “Karen” was not seen in the area, nor neither did her husband.
“From the response we received on the networks, we knew that this was something that the people were asking for. And as a people we agreed to organize this. Many of the sponsors put their money, their resources, to come here to give them food, to give them water, to all our athletes who exercise here on the Ocean Park beach”, declared Wilmar Vázquez, one of the organizers of the event. to First Hour.
“The message we want to convey with this is awareness that beaches are extremely important natural resources, and are for the use and enjoyment of all of us, both for people who have money as for those who do not. Here we do not want to carry any message of separation, but that in union here of all races, all beliefs, all social classes, we came, we united and we made this possible. I want to emphasize that when we get together and do wonderful things like this, the town grows”, added the interviewee.
After the incident with the couple, other residents of “Ocean Park” distanced themselves from the neighbors.
The Residents Association of the Ocean Park urbanization placed a poster in which the residents reported that they did not share the expressions of the woman.
“The residents of Ocean Park do not share the comments expressed by the person in the recently published video”, reads the entity’s message, which was cited by media such as El Vocero.
Viviana Pastor, a resident of Ocean Park for 22 years, directly told El Nuevo Día his repudiation of the incident.
“We are completely outraged Married with that person who does not represent us in the slightest. Let the whole world demonstrate,” Pastor raised.
Some politicians also echoed the demonstrations against, such as the senator of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), María de Lourdes Santiago.
“Present in Ocean Park in defense of our beaches! This is one of the coastal spaces that suffers from the combined threat of displacement and climate change. It is there that the government’s resistance to a new Coastal Law coincides with the marketing of the tropical tax haven”, reads a tweet that he shared from his account.