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CATALONIA

Protests in Catalonia after independence leaders held

Thousands of protesters descended on the streets of Catalonia late Friday after Spain's supreme court detained five separatist leaders for their role in last year's independence bid.

Published: 24 March 2018 10:41 CET
Protests in Catalonia after independence leaders held
Photo: AFP

The court also issued international arrest warrants for six other Catalan figures who have fled abroad, including former regional president Carles Puigdemont.

Twenty-four protesters were lightly injured in clashes with police, emergency services said.

Riot police used batons to keep the demonstrators away from the federal government offices in Barcelona.

The protest had been called on Thursday, by the radical Committees for the Defence of the Republic (CDR), before the court decisions were announced.

Spain's Supreme Court said Friday it would prosecute 13 key Catalan separatists for “rebellion”, a crime which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in jail.

Five people were held in custody, including Catalan presidential candidate Jordi Turull who was due Saturday to seek a second round vote in the regional parliament, after failing to be elected earlier in the week.

A Supreme Court judge held former Catalan parliament president Carme Forcadell and three former regional ministers alongside Turull.

Judge Pablo Llarena decided that the five posed a flight risk, after Marta Rovira became the latest leading pro-independence figure to flee abroad to escape charges.

Rovira ignored the summons and announced she was taking “the road to exile”.

The deputy leader of the leftwing separatist ERC party, whose chief is currently in jail, is currently in Switzerland, according to Spanish media.

Llarena also issued international arrest warrants for former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, who is in self-imposed exile in Belgium along with four of his former ministers.

All five left Spain following a proclamation of independence for Catalonia in October. One of them, Clara Ponsati, has since moved on to Scotland.

Four other separatists had already been detained by the Spanish authorities.

In total 25 people, the core of the movement, have been indicted over last year's independence drive.

The court decisions further inflamed the protesters in Barcelona, some of whom burnt pictures of King Felipe VI, a crime in Spain, as well as photos of judge Llarena.

They waved separatist flags and chanted “Freedom for the political prisoners”.

Another, calmer, rally filled the huge Plaça de Catalunya in central Barcelona.

“Catalonia has never felt like part of Spain,” said 22-year old Alba Mateu, one of the demonstrators.

“There are two million people who want to leave Spain and they can't put us all in prison,” his 58-year-old mother Carme Sala added.

Catalan television aired footage of more crowds in towns in the region, including Vic and Tarragona.

The judicial action in recent weeks has hit the Catalan independence movement, with some of its main players giving up their public roles while others have toned down their rhetoric.

Judge Llarena, in announcing his ruling, cited injuries to sixty Spanish policemen who had attempted to prevent an independence referendum from going ahead in Catalonia on October 1st.

Llarena said he considered that the current “attack on the State” was of a “gravity .. without comparison in neighbouring democracies”.

The crisis was sparked by a referendum, banned by Madrid, which led to the declaration of independence.

That declaration then led to the Spanish authorities imposing direct rule over the region, a situation which has so far lasted five months with Catalonia's autonomy suspended.

In his 70-page ruling Llarena set out the reasons for the rebellion charges which imply the existence of a “violent uprising”, which some jurists contest.

The supreme court judge did not mention the treatment meted out by police on voters queueing by polling stations, images of which were flashed around the world.

The separatist parties won regional elections in December called by Madrid after they attempted to secede, retaining their absolute majority in parliament.

But they have still not been able to form a government and face growing legal pressures.

With numerous leaders abroad or in jail, the separatists have struggled to re-organise or even remain in politics. Three more members of the parliament announced Thursday they were giving up their seats.

In a broad alliance swinging from centre-right to far left, the separatists failed to elect a new regional president on Thursday after their most radical faction refused to back Turull in a vote of confidence.

A second round parliamentary vote was due to take place Saturday.

READ ALSO: Catalan separatists face rebellion charge as another key figure flees abroad

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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