"ABOUT THE SEA AGAIN"

It is best to have a house near the beach. But it is a dream. God willing, everyone's dream comes true. But it comes to your mind more often if you have to spend your time on the Absheron beaches. As they say, no one has cancelled the summer and the heat. Sometimes you want to survive the heat on the seafront, because it is everyone's. But from the experience that seamlessly moves from one summer to another, you begin to understand that it is not always everyone's.

No, we are not going to write about how much paid beaches cost and that they are a lot cleaner - if someone has no money to be there, they will not be interested in prices. This is what R+ wrote last summer: "This year, as in the past and the year before, i.e. as always, those who love to relax in the ordinary state coastal zone will not see a very friendly picture. On Baku beaches, there is an unwritten law - if the area is not fenced for a tea house or another public house, the holidaymaker will have to put up with plastic bags, empty bottles, bits of fruit rotting in the sun, cigarette butts and other products of human activity nearby. They are left by holidaymakers who do not clean up after themselves. Yes, this is bad, yes, this is a low level of culture, but the overall infrastructure of Baku's public beaches does not encourage people to keep them clean. And it seems that people are no longer surprised by the lack of dust bins, not to mention the fact that those relaxing on the beaches of Baku have never come across employees of public services. And if the relevant services in charge of garbage collection within the city have somehow organized their work, which, of course, is far from being perfect, the cleaners have not got round to the beaches, not to mention the fact that Baku beaches, except private ones, are not equipped with changing rooms, free showers, toilets and other infrastructure available on all municipal and public beaches in Europe."

This year the situation has not changed. Just as in the past, it is not clear what bodies are required to monitor the cleanliness and order on the beaches - municipalities or executive authorities. But one thing is clear - the public beaches of Absheron are not experiencing the best of times. It is not because of only unsanitary conditions. There are fewer and fewer free beaches that can be accessed by ordinary people. Almost all the beaches of Absheron are closed and blocked for easy access by ordinary people. So many barriers, pipes and old tired dug into the sand have been installed along the entire Absheron coast that your eyes water and your heart aches as you recall the golden times and golden sand beaches of Baku. Is it really a thing of the past?

Each year, you go to the old place, fearing that you will see a familiar sight - the beach has been "seized" by businessmen, although we have repeatedly written that in world experience, access to the sea, lake, ocean, river should be free and the state must ensure the safety and cleanliness of all beaches. Take, for example, Spain - according to the law, a citizen of the country has the right to walk along the beach from one end of the country to another. It is the same in Australia - there are a lot of beaches, hotels and entertainment venues there, but all beaches are accessible to people. There are no paid beaches at all. Even if there is a cafe or a water park near the ocean, entry is free everywhere, while parking is outside the beach. On the beaches of Baku, we see infringements of the law and gross violations of tourists' right. Recently, a tourist who visited a beach in Baku told our correspondent about an outrageous fact. On the Mardakan beach, three men, apparently, workers of the fenced area, drove out two women with three small children before his eyes because they had settled near the sea without booking a table and chairs. The women were outraged and did not want to leave, but the employees of the beach called the police and the poor tourists had to leave.

What are we to do? We can and should fight such cases. Do not pay when you are asked to pay for entering a beach because beaches are officially free in Baku, and the capital's administration has repeatedly spoken out on the issue. "Entry into all the sea beaches operating in Baku is free. Entry into certain tourist areas and sites of national importance can be banned. But entry into all the beaches on the coast is free. A fee may be charged only for certain services provided on the beaches - for example, for using beach chairs, umbrellas, changing rooms, showers and other services. But it is illegal to charge for accessing the beach, and such cases will be treated as an offence. The Code of Administrative Offences stipulates certain penalties to this effect. In previous years, such cases were identified and administrative penalties were imposed on the perpetrators." The executive authorities argue that they conduct regular raids to identify violators who charge fees for entering the beach. However, for reasons unknown to citizens, the number of such businessmen on the beaches is not decreasing.