There are no lifeguards at Tayrona despite the fact that visitors are charged for accident insurance

The death of César Augusto Bolaños Barrigas, who suffered a cramp while bathing in Cabo San Juan, one of the most popular resorts in the Tayrona Nature Reserve, it opened the panorama of the constant shortcomings that exist in the parks of Santa Marta in terms of tourist safety. After the issue of Bolaños, it was possible to identify that the place does not have an emergency protocol.

Since Parque Nacionales took over the Tayrona operation in December 2019, several tourist services in the region have been suspended, including lifeguards for tourist beaches have been removed. The contract with Magdalena Civil Defense was terminated in 2018 and was not renewed.

Subsequently, the contract was transferred to a private company to be in charge of the security protocol, but this agreement did not last.

According to the director of civil defense of the Magdalena, Colonel Karlotz Omaña, in an interview for El Tiempo, he confirmed that during the eight years that the entity was in charge of the first aid of the place, there was never had died on the spot. . However, Since the end of the contract, six deaths have been reported, all of which could have been avoided if a rescuer had acted in time.

“Lifeguards are a latent need for these beaches because, thanks to these professionals, prevention and action work is carried out in the event of an emergency which reduces the risk of tragic events at sea”, Omaña assured El Tiempo.

On the other hand, the representative of the Civil Defense, denounced that before the national parks were put in charge of Tayrona, there were in the region nurses and first aid and rescue personnel, as well as boats, boats and ambulances in order to take care of the life of tourists, now there is no guarantee.

“There was complete logistics and all the institutional capacities to act in case of this type of eventuality. Fortunately, the results of our operations in the allotted time were very satisfactory “confirmed Omaña.

The Tayrona has 34 beaches, but tourists are only allowed to swim in six: Neguanje, Gayraca, Crystal (also called Playa del Muerto), Bahía Concha, La Piscina and Cabo San Juan de Guía. Indeed, it is only in these areas that the tide will not affect people’s lives.

Although there is a risk of death if tourists stray from the beach, there is no clear information for tourists, there is only a warning fence with no security around or some type of control.

The most serious thing is that each of the tourists who enter the park must pay, in addition to the entrance, an accident insurance worth $ 5,000, but this does not serve as a guarantee of safety. In the case of Cesar Augusto, it didn’t work.

El Tiempo denounced an attempt to communicate with the national parks to find out the responsibility for their management in these cases, however, according to media reports, the entity responded that the park rangers are responsible for the areas of Tayrona.

“Lifeguards are part of the ecotourism services contracted by the operator, but as the administration of the park is temporarily carried out directly by the national natural parks, there is no staff for this work”, the entity’s chief communications officer said in a statement.

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