Dianeli Cancel expresses concern over beach access (Part 3)

Here, just listen. Dianeli Cancel is enjoying the water on a floaty her relatives are sitting on beach chairs under some trees. There's almost no one else. They're from Boqueron, on the other side of the bay, and Dianeli loves this beach. She says they've been coming here every Wednesday for the past few months. They used to go camping on this beach when she was a kid, and after all these years, she says the beach looks the same. It makes her kind of emotional. But she's worried this is all going to change. She fears that soon they'll be turned away. They'll be told that Los Bosos has been closed off to them. This beach has been in the news a lot lately. Most of the land right behind it is owned by Cabo Rojo Land Acquisitions llc, the group of investors behind a proposed luxury development called Essencia. According to a map Essencia's developers have released, this area would be turned into a private beach club. Right next to it would be upscale residences and hotels. They would build Essencia on 2000 acres. To picture that, that's like twice the size of Central park, or over six times the size of old San Juan. It would be a $2.7 billion project with two golf courses, 500 luxury hotel rooms, two shopping centers, a private school and a private hospital. And there would be some 1200 luxury residences. A lot of the land that the Essencia developers have bought up around here is actually protected land because of its ecological value. A project like this one normally wouldn't be permitted, but the government has approved an exemption.