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Catalan rift clouds Spain’s homage to attack victims

A year after a jihadist rampage in Catalonia killed 16 people, Spain paid homage to the victims Friday without managing to set aside bitter divisions over the region's independence.

Published: 17 August 2018 18:14 CEST
Catalan rift clouds Spain's homage to attack victims
Queen Letizia, Spain's King Felipe VI, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, President of the Parliament Ana Pastor, President of the Senate, Pio Garcia Escudero and Catalan regional president Quim T

Families of the victims had called for a “truce” in the political row over Catalonia's failed secessionist drive last October, which quickly overshadowed the bloody attacks that shook Spain.

But right above the spot on Barcelona's famous Las Ramblas boulevard where a van came to a stop after ploughing into and killing 14 pedestrians on August 17th, 2017, separatist activists unravelled a banner reading: “Free political prisoners. Without them this ceremony is a scam.”

Under the banner — which refers to separatist leaders in jail over the failed secession attempt — relatives of the victims laid flowers on a pavement mosaic designed by Barcelona-born artist Joan Miro.

Further up the road on the central Plaza Catalunya, another large banner hung from a building reading in English: “The Spanish king is not welcome in the Catalan countries”, with an upside-down picture of the monarch, who took a hardline stance against the secession bid.

King Felipe VI, his wife Queen Letizia and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez joined families of the victims on the plaza for an emotional commemoration, to cries of “long live the king” and “long live Spain” by pro-unity onlookers sporting Spanish flags.


King Felipe VI greets victims and relatives during a ceremony in Barcelona. Photo: AFP

“It was a complete disgrace, such a shame. In the end others took the limelight and not the victims,” Jose Vargas, president of the Catalan association of terror victims told AFP.

Dark day for Spain

A year ago, tourists and locals in Barcelona were enjoying yet another sunny day in the city, perusing the many flower stands that line Las Ramblas.   

But around 4:30 pm (1430 GMT), everything changed.   

Younes Abouyaaqoub, a 22-year-old Moroccan man, drove his van into the crowds, killing 14 people, including two children aged three and seven.   

Abouyaaqoub fled, stabbing to death a young man before stealing his car.   

Hours later, a car carrying five of his accomplices sped into the seaside resort of Cambrils some 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Barcelona.   

The five occupants of the Audi A3 jumped out and went on a stabbing spree, killing a woman, before they were shot dead by police.   

Even then, at a defiant gathering against the attacks days after they happened, the king was jeered by supporters of independence.   

READ ALSO: Anti-king banner unveiled in Barcelona ahead of attacks ceremony

 

On Friday, separatist organisations staged their own commemorative marches to avoid being in the monarch's presence.   

On Twitter, Sanchez on Friday stressed the need for “the unity of all of Spanish society”, which “makes us stronger in the face of terror and barbarism”.

Catalonia's pro-independence president Quim Torra said “we emerged stronger and more united and more convinced of our principles” after the attacks.   

He paid tribute to former Catalan police chief Josep Lluis Trapero and Joaquim Forn, the former regional interior minister who is in jail over the subsequent secession bid, and whom Torra described as “unjustly imprisoned”.   

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the carnage but investigators have not found any evidence that the cell of young men who carried them out had any international links.

They believe an imam in the Catalan mountain town of Ripoll indoctrinated a group of youths of Moroccan origin.   

READ ALSO: A year on, suspicion and silence in Spain jihadists' hometown

They made explosives at an abandoned house which police believe they intended to use to strike the Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona, the city's Camp Nou stadium or even the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

But these accidentally went off on August 16th, destroying the house, killing two of them including the imam, and prompting the remainder of the cell to improvise a vehicle attack similar to the ones carried out in other cities such as Nice and London.

By AFP's Daniel Bosque 

 

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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