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INDEPENDENCE

Catalan politicians give green light to controversial independence plan

UPDATED: Catalan MPs on Monday voted in favour of a resolution that would see the region becoming independent from Spain within just 18 months. Spain's central government will challenge the vote in court.

Catalan politicians give green light to controversial independence plan
The non-binding resolution is expected to be challenged in Spain's Constitutional Court. Photo: AFP

All 72 separatist lawmakers – the majority in the northeastern region's parliament – voted for the resolution aimed at creating an independent republic by 2017.

A total of 63 MPs voted against the nine-point motion which includes a solemn declaration calling for “the beginning of the creation of an independent Catalan state in the form of a republic”.

The resolution has the backing of Catalan president Artur Mas' Together for Yes coalition and the smaller far-left separatist CUP party, which together have a majority in the regional assembly with 72 seats of the 135 seats.

But Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his staunchly anti-independence Popular Party (PP) have the backing of the main opposition Socialists and new, popular centre-right group Ciudadanos.

“I was born in Catalonia and I want to keep living here,” said Xavier García Albiol of the ruling PP party during a debate before Monday's vote.

“While you are spending your time and efforts to break up Catalonia from the rest of Spain, 600,000 Catalans go out on the street every day to look for work,” said the politician born to a Catalan mother and an Andalusian father, referring to pro-independence lawmakers.

“While you are dedicating your time to creating state structures, 1.5 million Catalans live in precarious conditions.”

There have long been demands for greater autonomy in Catalonia, a region of 7.5 million people with its own language that accounts for a fifth of Spain's economic output.

These calls have intensified in recent years, in tandem with the country's economic crisis.

A 2010 decision by Spain's Constitutional Court to water down a 2006 statute giving the region more powers has added to the growing pressure for secession.

Rajoy said on Monday afternoon his government would challenge in court the vote by Catalonia's parliament.

He told reporters that after an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday, “I will sign a recourse (to the Constitutional Court) of unconstitutionality and will ask for… the immediate suspension of this initiative and all its possible effects”.

If the court accepts the government's appeal as is expected, the Catalan resolution will be automatically suspended until judges hear arguments and make their decision.

Rajoy's government in September boosted the powers of the Constitutional Court to allow it to quickly suspend leaders who disobey its orders, in a move aimed directly at Catalonia.

The government has also raised the possibility of invoking article 155 of the Spanish constitution, which allows Madrid to supersede the authority of a regional government that is acting outside the law or cut off its funding.

But those who crafted the declaration had anticipated this, and the resolution states that the secession process will not be subject to decisions made by Spanish institutions, including the court.

While not legally binding, the text calls on the regional assembly to start working on legislation within 30 days to create a separate social security system and treasury, with a view of complete independence as early as 2017.

“With this resolution, we are solemnly kicking off the construction of a state,” Raul Romeva of Together for Yes told regional lawmakers on Monday.

Catalonia tried to hold an official referendum on independence last year, but judges ruled it was against the constitution, arguing that all Spanish people have the right to decide on matters of sovereignty.

The region pressed ahead anyway and held the referendum, although it was purely symbolic in nature.

Turnout was 37 percent, of which over 80 percent voted in favour of independence.

“A referendum would be the ideal tool, but the Spanish government blocked it. We have no other option but unilateral action,” CUP lawmaker Albert Botran told news agency AFP.

While Catalan separatist parties won a majority of seats in the regional parliament in September polls, they failed to win a majority of all votes cast – a fact emphasized by their opponents.

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BEACHES

Why are Barcelona’s beaches disappearing?

Barcelona's much-loved beaches are losing between six and 10 metres of sand per year, but why is this happening?

Why are Barcelona's beaches disappearing?
Barceloneta Beach. Photo: Pau BARRENA / AFP

Barcelona may be famed for its beaches and they may be one of its biggest tourist draws, but it hasn’t always been this way.

In fact, Barcelona didn’t used to have any beaches at all, just ports and seaside neighbourhoods. It wasn’t until 1992 when the city held the Olympic Games that these neighbourhoods were demolished and the beaches were created. 

What’s the problem?

Since 2017, the city’s beaches have been losing between six and 10 metres of width per year, according to a recent study by the Área Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB).

This beach erosion means that every year there is less and less sand for residents and tourists to lie on and enjoy. 

This is not a new problem however and has been going on much longer than four and half years. In 2016, the Barcelona City Council revealed that since 2010 Barceloneta Beach had lost over 15 metres in width, which is equivalent to 28 percent of its surface area.  

In another 2016 report, the regional authorities of Barcelona also showed that its beaches as a whole had lost 17 percent of their total amount of sand during the same time period, the same as five football pitches.

Why is it happening?

The study attributes this to the fact that there have been more storms than normal since 2017, which has prevented the natural recovery of the beaches.

Storm Gloria in January 2020 in particular caused significant damage to the beaches in the area and caused even more sand to be washed away.

In short, most of this is to do with climate change. 

The beaches that have been most affected and have lost the most amount of sand are those in the lower Maresme region and the towns of Masnou and Badalona.

Barcelona beaches being destroyed during a storm. Photo: JOSEP LAGO / AFP

What’s being done about it?

The Barcelona City Council has been continually adding a little sand to its beaches each year and moving it around from areas that have more to areas that have less.

Aitor Rumín, head of the beach management service of the Barcelona Consistory told El Pais last month that “the last major contribution of sand was made by the ministry in 2010. Since then we have only lost sand”.

“It’s survival, but we can’t do much more. The beaches lose 30 cubic meters of sand per year, especially in the southern parts of each of the beaches. The coastline is receding and we have beaches like Mar Bella, Nova Mar Bella and Llevant, where we can’t do anything to regain the sand,” he said.

Badalona Beach. Photo: JOSEP LAGO / AFP

While moving the sand around and adding a little each year may help to cover up the problem in the short term, it’s not really helping solve the problem and a long-term solution needs to be found.

The Área Metropolitana de Barcelona have been trying to stop the beach erosion with their Resilience Plan, which will ask for greater contributions of sand to try and balance out the current losses and divide the beaches up with breakwaters.

In the case of Badalona, it has been proposed that 13,200 cubic metres of sand be added to the beach each year, as well as to rethink the layout of the equipment located on the seafront. The construction of a breakwater on La Mora beach has also been proposed.

In Sant Adrià, the plan is to build another breakwater, as well as to remove the jetty in front of the old industrial areas. The council also hope to add a further 95,000 cubic metres of sand.

It is thought that similar plans may be carried out on Barcelona’s other beaches.

Is this a problem anywhere else in Spain?

Yes, beach erosion is a problem throughout Spain, as well as throughout the world, due to climate change.

Theocharis Plomaritis from the University of Cádiz who was one of the co-authors of the Nature Climate Change study published in March 2020, told El Periodico that by the end of the century the retreat of the beaches in Spain and Southern Europe could be 86 metres, if no measures are taken to contain climate change. 

According to the study, in the best case scenario – with measures to mitigate the effects of climate – the loss of sandy beaches in Spain would be 60 metres and 27 of these metres by 2050.

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