The prohibition of the public use of beaches: a competence problem

Abstract

The public authorities’ reaction to the covid-19 epidemic has led to a staggering set of legal acts, some of arguable lawfulness. The prohibition of the public use of beaches was one of the cases in which public health emergency led to contradictory and legally questionable decisions. Although the State chose not to ban the public use of the beaches, municipalities decided otherwise. Without questioning what would have been the best choice – to ban or not to ban – the antinomy of those administrative measures requires the determination of which administrative body has the legal power to make that prohibitive decision.