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INDEPENDENCE

Spanish PM and Catalonia’s new separatist leader agree to meet

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Catalonia's new separatist leader Quim Torra said Tuesday they were willing to meet, as the regional president prepares to form a government and keep fighting to break from Spain.

Published: 16 May 2018 09:51 CEST
Spanish PM and Catalonia's new separatist leader agree to meet
Photos: AFP

Torra made a request to meet Rajoy earlier in the day from Berlin, where he was visiting deposed Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont as controversy grows over his appointment, with critics accusing him of “xenophobia” for past comments deemed offensive to the Spanish.

“My first aim of this new Catalan government is to offer dialogue to the Spanish government,” he told reporters.   

Prime Minister “Rajoy please you fix a time and place,” he said, standing next to Puigdemont, who is battling extradition to Spain on charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds.

Rajoy responded from Sofia where he held talks with his Bulgarian counterpart that he would meet him, although he cautioned that Torra would have to respect the law and added there would never be an independent Catalan republic.

Torra, who was handpicked by Puigdemont as his successor, also asked the central government to hand back control over Catalonia's finances after Madrid said it would maintain its oversight on spending in the region to prevent it from funding a fresh secession bid.

“We won't accept these conditions,” Torra said, as Madrid prepares to otherwise lift direct rule it imposed on Catalonia after Puigdemont and other separatist leaders declared independence on October 27th.

'Dangerous, irresponsible'

Torra, a 55-year-old editor who has long campaigned for independence, was appointed Catalan president on Monday after scraping through a regional parliamentary vote.

He described himself as a “caretaker president” as he awaits the return of Puigdemont, whom he considers the “legitimate” leader.  

A series of tweets and articles over past years have overshadowed his appointment, with independent, anti-racism group SOS Racisme Catalunya slamming them on Tuesday.

READ MORE: Anti-racism group slams new Catalan leader

“We reject the discourse that Mr Torra has used repeatedly,” the group said.   

“A dangerous, irresponsible and unacceptable discourse, based in prejudices,” a statement said, adding it would remain vigilant to denounce any potential “racist stances”.

In a series of articles published online, Torra said it was not “natural” to speak Spanish in Catalonia. He also described Spain as “a country that exports misery” and branded those who do not defend the Catalan language and culture “scavengers, vipers and hyenas.”

A since-deleted tweet he posted in 2012 said: “The Spanish are coming to monitor us, out of here once and for all!”.   

Torra has also said a new armed uprising was necessary, just like the one Francesc Macia, Catalan president from 1931 to 1933, planned in 1926 against the military dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera.

“He defends xenophobia,” Ines Arrimadas, the leader in Catalonia of the centre-right, anti-independence Ciudadanos party, said Monday.   

Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis added Tuesday he was concerned over a “discriminatory form of nationalism” in Catalonia, according to a statement by a forum in which he took part in the southern city of Sevilla.

The allegations could harm the separatist movement in Catalonia which has always strived to differentiate itself from radical, xenophobic nationalisms that have arisen elsewhere in Europe.

It is estimated that more than 60 percent of the region's 7.5 million inhabitants originate from other parts of Spain.   

While the pro-independence movement has grown in strength over the years, the region remains deeply divided on the issue.   

Torra has repeatedly apologised for his past comments, which he said were taken out of context.

Responding to the controversy from Berlin, he quoted Macia, whom he said offered to the rest of Spanish people the fraternity of the people of Catalonia when he proclaimed a Catalan republic in 1931.

It is “with the same aim that I am taking the presidency of Catalonia, fraternity to all the peoples of Spain,” he said in English.

Jailed, exiled ministers back?

Torra also said that all regional ministers sacked by Madrid after the failed secession bid — many of whom are now jailed or exiled and face rebellion charges — will be allowed to return to their posts in his government if they want to.   

But this could throw a spanner in the works.   

“If this option was put on the table, we would have to look into it and determine if it is in line with the law and justifies lifting” direct rule, Spain's central government representative in Catalonia, Enric Millo, warned on Catalan television.

By AFP's Damien Stroka with Daniel Bosque in Barcelona

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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