BBC: Bulgarians Decry 'Eco Vandalism' on Coast

It may not be the holiday season, but Bulgaria's Black Sea coast has been the focus of a lot of media attention in recent weeks.  

After pictures emerged on social media earlier this month of a giant sand dune being bulldozed, there's been an angry reaction among eco activists and the general public.

On 12 January, Bulgarian musician and activist Vasil Gyurov posted pictures on Facebook with the caption: "This is what the protected dunes look like at the Smokiniya campsite. How convenient - in January. Scum!"

The post prompted disbelief on social media. Stefani Pavlova wrote: There'll be nothing left of this country... it's our fault that we put up with it. Lawlessness, anarchy... Our future looks black..."

'Act of vandalism'

The coastal sand dunes are home to rare plants and enjoy protection under Bulgaria's environmental protection laws. Destroying a sand dune is illegal, even if it happens to be on private land.

"We were shaken after what we saw," said Tonka Atanasova, the head of the environmental inspectorate in the city of Burgas. "A giant dune being completely destroyed. It's an act of vandalism."

The photographs led to prosecutors and environmental authorities to start investigations, which resulted in the arrest of three men.

Soon, pictures of other building sites along the coast appeared, showing heavy machinery hard at work right next to beaches.

Bulgaria's coastline has been transformed by a construction boom over the last couple of decades and this is not the first time authorities have been accused of allowing acts of environmental "vandalism".

The pressure to exploit the coastline commercially has often been compared to the construction fever along Spain's Costa Brava coast during the...