Spain probes unauthorized Katy Perry music video in a protected natural area

FILE – Katy Perry arrives at the 35th Annual Colleagues Spring Luncheon and Oscar de la Renta Fashion Show, April 25, 2024, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

MADRID, Spain — In her new music video, Katy Perry pretends to be one of the thousands of tourists having the time of their lives on Spain’s Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean. But some parts, filmed in a protected natural enclave, could bring trouble.

The regional government is investigating the video for her latest song, “Lifetimes,” for the clips in which the 39-year-old American singer and songwriter appears jumping and running across dunes of the Ses Salines Natural Park, a protected area on the islands of Ibiza and Formentera, apparently without permission.

The images taken on the dunes of the private islet of S’Espalmador, “one of the most ecologically valuable sites on the islands” and in an area cordoned off from the public with sticks and ropes, sparked the controversy, according to local media.

The regional authorities have opened “preliminary investigation proceedings,” according to a statement released Tuesday, after the production company failed to apply for the appropriate permits. The filming wouldn’t have been an environmental offense, because this type of production can be authorized with a permit, the department of natural environment added.

Her label, Universal Music, said the local video production company had assured it that all necessary permits for the video were secured. When it learned one permit was still being processed, “we were given verbal authority to go ahead” a day before the shoot, which took place July 27, a label spokesperson said in an email to The Associated Press.

“We adhered to all regulations associated with filming in this area and have the utmost respect for this location and the officials tasked with protecting it,” the statement said.

The video, directed by Colombian-American photographer and director Matías Vasquez, Stillz, shows Perry sailing, swimming or clubbing on the islands, one of the most popular and crowded tourist resorts in the Spanish Mediterranean, especially during the summer.

Perry’s new album “143” will be released on Sept. 20.