While Belgium was experiencing the hottest day of the year on Monday 12 August, many people decided to head to the beach in order to make the most of the tropical temperatures. However, despite being a successful weekend for coastal businesses, the masses also had a less desirable effect. Beaches were left full of litter and locals are enraged by the scenes they had to witness once the crowds were gone.
Belgian beaches littered with trash after tropical summer day https://t.co/QOcb9k8UBB#FlandersNewsService #Belga #Beach #Coast #Litter pic.twitter.com/2zCqrRzcJU
— Belga News Agency_English (@Belga_English) August 13, 2024
In a land where temperatures above 30°C are a rare sight, any weather peak is a good enough excuse to head to the beach. Last weekend, the Belgian coast hosted 475,000 overnight stays and 360,000 day tourists, while an approximate 150,000 flocked to the Belgian beaches on Monday – the hottest day of the year in Belgium so far, with temperatures hitting 34°C.
The 95% occupancy rate was welcomed by the hotels in the region but, according to the non-profit organisation Proper Strandlopers (Clean Beachgoers), the staggering amount of trash left behind was the main event of the tropical weekend.
“It’s an absolute record”, Proper Strandloper’s Tim Corbusier told Belgian public service broadcaster RTBF. “We have never collected so much trash before.” According the organisation, which deploys volunteers to keep the beaches in the coastal town of Ostend clean, 4,000 litres of trash were collected on Monday evening.
#destrandhelden kunnen wat hulp gebruiken! Vandaag kan er zich door getijden spectaculaire stijging van achtergelaten #afval voordoen. Gisteren al record van 1.500 liter op 600m strand. We starten om 19u ad strekdam in @VisitOostende @BeterLeefmilieu @WMF_Bart @vrtnws pic.twitter.com/4avI9IbAXy
— Proper Strand Lopers (@ProperStrand) August 12, 2024
Local authorities, too, have had enough of the littering beachgoers. “We do all we can to keep our beach clean but there is a lack of respect for our nature. We put extra bins, we deploy extra people to clean up and still beachgoers leave their rubbish behind. That makes me angry,” deputy mayor of Ostend Kurt Claeys told Belgian news agency Belga.
Many people took to social media to show the deplorable state of the beaches during the day. Some of them call on the local authorities to do better but, according to the mayor of Blankenberge, another popular Belgian coastal destination, the problem lies with the beachgoers.
It looks like third world but it's Belgium. What is happening in Europe? pic.twitter.com/W4TH58WlPJ
— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) August 13, 2024
“They just won’t learn their lesson, whether it is on purpose or not. I can understand that some waste bins might have been full but there are enough of them on the dam to be able to successfully dispose of your trash. The only thing we can do is try to organise more inspections on the matter. Maybe those who will get a fine won’t put their trash next to the bins or on the beach any longer”, Blankenberge mayor, Björn Prasse, told RTBF.
