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INDEPENDENCE

Spanish PM to meet Catalan president in bid to defuse tensions

Spain's new leader Pedro Sanchez on Monday meets separatist Catalan president Quim Torra for the first time in a bid to kickstart dialogue after the region's failed attempt at secession which sparked the country's worst crisis in decades.

Published: 7 July 2018 11:47 CEST
Spanish PM to meet Catalan president in bid to defuse tensions
Spain's king Felipe VI (L), Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (C) and Catalan regional president Quim Torra (R). Photo: AFP

Sanchez has been in power for a month after overthrowing his conservative predecessor Mariano Rajoy in a key parliamentary vote he won with the help of Catalan separatists.

Sanchez has urged Catalan separatist leaders to “turn the page” after Torra said he wanted another referendum on independence.

At the start of this month, six of the nine Catalan leaders held near Madrid were transferred to Catalonia to ease tensions ahead of Monday's talks in Madrid.

They include former Catalan vice president Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart of two pro-independence associations and Raul Romeva, the former Catalan government's international affairs chief.

Accused of rebellion along with deposed Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont for their role in the region's proclamation of independence in October 2017, they face up to 25 years in jail.

Torra said the aim of the talks was to “find out the Socialists' view on the right of self-determination for Catalans.”

The government has already rebuffed this with spokeswoman Isabel Celaa responding that the “right to self-determination does not exist in the constitution”.

But a senior Catalan government official told AFP that they would bring this up at Monday's meeting, which starts at 0930 GMT.

Logjam? 

“Our proposal to resolve this is a referendum on self-determination. If they have a better idea, they can explain that to us,” the official said.

Catalonia's separatist government pushed ahead with an independence referendum on October 1 despite it having been ruled unconstitutional by the court and Spain's central government. The referendum was followed by a unilateral declaration on independence on October 27.

At the time, separatist authorities said 92 percent of the 2.2 million Catalans who cast their ballot — 43 percent of eligible voters — opted for independence.

The conservative Spanish government in power at the time, headed by Mariano Rajoy, responded by sacking the Catalan government, suspending its parliament and imposing direct rule over the wealthy northeastern region.

Madrid ended direct rule over Catalonia last month after Torra's administration was sworn in.

Catalan lawmaker Meritxell Batet who was recently sworn in as Spain's minister for public administration said the ruling Socialists wanted to amend the constitution to move toward a “federal model”.

However with only 84 deputies in the 350-member house, the Socialists have little room for manouevre.

Amending Spain?s constitution requires a two-thirds majority of the Congress of Deputies.

Sanchez “will not launch anything that is too complicated for such a minority party”, said Fernando Vallespin, a political science professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid.

No majority 

“There's no majority in Spain for an amendment of the constitution. The right can block it.”

Vallespin said the only possible positive outcome would be if both sides accept to try and reach a compromise that grants Catalonia a special status within Spain with more power over taxation and other matters.

“Sanchez will push for Catalonia to start abiding by the law again and function as a region within the constitution and Torra will say that's not his intention,” Vallespin predicted.

“He wants to walk out saying he asked for a referendum.

“Torra is dogmatic, radical, even more radical than (Carles) Puigdemont.”

The Catalan parliament is divided between moderates and radicals like the exiled Puigdemont, who view any concession towards Madrid as treason.

There are no great expectations from Monday's meeting.

“Things will not be resolved in one or two or three meetings… they have to continue a dialogue,” the senior Catalan official said.

Torra himself has asked Sanchez for a second date in September in Barcelona, Catalonia's main city.

A man holds a placard reading 'Free political prisoners' during a protest called by Catalan pro-independence demonstrators

Sanchez has urged Catalan separatist leaders to 'turn the page'

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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