Last week, nearly 250 residents of Liberia assembled at the Municipal Gymnasium to coordinate an effort to reclaim one of the most treasured beaches in their canton: Playa Cabuyal. According to a report by online news outlet Primero en Noticias, residents of Liberia are protesting against what they consider to be an issue of illegal land registration by an extremely wealthy and powerful family.

 

The issue at heart is a major piece of land known as Finca 5-153441-000, which measures about 59 hectares (about 146 acres). This land is registered under cadastral record G-0951339-2004, but it is better known to residents of Liberia as a pretty stretch of coastline named Playa Cabuyal. About 150 meters of the beach is deeded to the Roman Ocampo family, whose members are extremely successful entrepreneurs and legislators. When this property was acquired and registered, the metes and bounds actually encompassed 150 meters of coastline, which in Costa Rica is supposed to be for public enjoyment and should not be deeded unless a trust is created and managed by the municipality.

 

Residents of Liberia claim that no special land trust was established when the property was acquired more than ten years ago. Attorneys who are serving as counsel for the people of Liberia on a pro bono basis explained that the property was acquired and registered in an underhanded manner, and thus the beach should be returned to the public. Environmental conservation leaders and the Mayor of Liberia were among those in attendance at the above-mentioned meeting.

 

Although the Roman Ocampo family has not fully closed public access to the beach, residents want to see the cadastral record amended. The family vows to fight this issue in the Administrative and Contentious Tribunal, a special court division that often handles the murkiest and most complex matters related to civil law in Costa Rica.

 

The province of Guanacaste is known as being home to the pristine Gold Coast beaches of Costa Rica, and Playa Cabuyal happens to be the most celebrated among residents of Liberia.