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INDEPENDENCE

Spanish PM asks Catalan leader to talk to those against independence

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday asked Catalonia's separatist leader Quim Torra to start a dialogue with those against independence and ditch his "posturing" to ease tensions in the region.

Published: 6 September 2018 09:48 CEST

Spanish PM asks Catalan leader to talk to those against independence

Catalan regional president Quim Torra stands next to a yellow ribbon symbolising jailed and exiled Catalan separatist leaders as he delivers a speech at the National Theatre of Catalonia in Barcelona

Sanchez, who came to power in June after ousting his conservative predecessor Mariano Rajoy, offered Monday to hold a referendum on greater autonomy for Catalonia as a way to ease the crisis.

The one-year anniversaries of a banned referendum on secession from Spain and a failed unilateral declaration of independence are coming up on October 1st and October 27th respectively.

But on Tuesday in a speech in Barcelona, Torra retorted that he wanted “a referendum of self-determination.”

He stressed the aim was still to get independence from Spain and called on those who are for secession to mobilise in the coming weeks.

Speaking in Sweden on Wednesday, where he is on an official trip, Sanchez said Catalonia's separatist regional government should “launch a big debate, a big conversation between non-nationalists and nationalists in Catalonia.”

“Torra's current offer may satisfy half of Catalans (who are for independence) but it doesn't satisfy the other half of Catalans,” he said in Enkoping, a town near Stockholm, speaking alongside his Swedish counterpart

Stefan Lofven ahead of a closely-watched general election there, adding that he wanted to see “more responsibility and less posturing.”

His comments come just days ahead of a traditional, annual demonstration for the Diada, or Catalonia's day, on September 11th.

A large protest is planned in the centre of Barcelona under the theme “Let's build the Catalan Republic.”

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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