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ELECTION

Catalonia: what next?

The victory of the separatist camp and parallel success of an anti-secession party in Catalan elections highlights the region's stark division and leaves it exposed to huge political and economic uncertainty, analysts say.

Published: 22 December 2017 18:49 CET
Catalonia: what next?
Independence flags and freedom slogans at a recent rally. Photo:AFP

Divided

Voters in the wealthy Spanish region on Thursday handed three separatist groupings a new absolute majority in parliament.   

Their supporters were uncowed by turmoil over their failed bid for secession, which has seen Madrid impose direct control on the region.   

Anti-secession party Ciudadanos also scored high, winning the biggest result of any individual party with 37 out of 135 seats.   

That was a sign of division in the region, despite widespread outrage at Madrid's hardline stance on the crisis.   

“We're now in a more polarised society that is at loggerheads,” said Oriol Bartomeus, politics professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.    

“The possibility of agreeing on a solution is more remote now than a year ago.”

Puigdemont home?

While Ciudadanos won the most votes and seats, it remains far behind the three separatist groupings combined and lacks suitable coalition partners.    

So the onus is on the three separatist groupings to join forces to form a regional government — seen as a likely outcome despite the divisions among them.

The list headed up by Carles Puigdemont, who was sacked as Catalan president by Madrid, came second.   

But he is in self-imposed exile in Belgium, wanted in Spain on charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds.    

His former deputy Oriol Junqueras and other Catalan leaders are in jail pending a probe into the same charges.   

Rafael Arenas, law professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, says Puigdemont could choose to come back, which would mean immediate detention.

He could still be sworn in as an MP but would be unable to attend parliamentary sessions, says Arenas, a scenario that would bode “confrontation” and “scandal.”

The other option would be for Puigdemont to remain in Belgium, and he and his jailed deputies hand over their seats to their number-two candidates and let them form a government.
 

Other secession bid?


 

Whether separatists will attempt another push for independence remains a mystery.

For Ines Arrimadas, Ciudadanos' candidate in Catalonia, the region's stark divide doesn't give them a mandate to do so.   

“The independence drive didn't make sense yesterday, and today it makes even less sense,” she said Friday.   

There will be fresh pressure for negotiations between Madrid and the separatist camp.

But Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Friday rejected a call by Puigdemont to meet him face to face.

Economic consequences

The independence drive has hit Catalonia's dynamic economy.    

As uncertainty persists, tourism has cooled, as have employment and spending.

More than 3,100 companies have moved their legal headquarters away, and the continued uncertainty won't help.   

“The regional economic outlook is expected to deteriorate further, with knock-on effects for the national economy unless growth in other regions can compensate,” ratings agency Moody's said.

“No one is going to invest in Catalonia until the situation clears up,” added economist Jose Carlos Diez.

PM's conservatives weakened

Rajoy's conservative Popular Party (PP) was the big loser in Thursday's election, winning just three seats compared to 11 in 2015.   

And while the PP has never been popular in Catalonia, the victory of Ciudadanos indicates that the youthful centre-right party could steal PP voters nationwide.

“Ciudadanos' victory in Catalonia will likely give the party… additional momentum in opinion polls on the national level”, as it presents itself as a corrupt-free alternative to the PP, said Antonio Barroso, deputy research director at Teneo Intelligence analysis group.

On Friday, Rajoy rejected calls for early general elections over his party's performance.

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?

Published: 16 June 2021 15:30 CEST
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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