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Feb 26th: Rajoy to take the stand in Catalan separatists’ trial

Spain's former prime minister Mariano Rajoy, who was in power when Catalonia's executive tried to secede in 2017, will testify in the high-profile trial of separatist leaders on February 26th, the Supreme Court said Tuesday.

Published: 19 February 2019 13:41 CET

Feb 26th: Rajoy to take the stand in Catalan separatists' trial

Photo: AFP

In a statement, the court said other witnesses who will testify next week include Catalonia's former president Artur Mas and Spain's former deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria.

Inigo Urkullu, the president of the Basque Country who acted as a mediator during the crisis in October 2017, will also appear in court next week.

The announcement came as the 12 defendants continued to be questioned on Tuesday at Madrid's Supreme Court in a trial for rebellion and other offences that takes place under intense domestic and foreign scrutiny.

READ MORE Catalan separarists' trial: What you need to know

They are being tried for pushing an independence referendum in October 2017 in defiance of a court ban, and for a subsequent short-lived declaration of independence on October 27th.

That prompted Rajoy's government to sack the Catalan executive, dissolve the regional parliament, impose direct rule on the semi-autonomous region and call snap local elections.

Several days later, Catalonia's then leader Carles Puigdemont fled Spain for Belgium along with several other colleagues.

As such, the main defendant in the trial is Oriol Junqueras, Puigdemont's then deputy, as Spain does not judge people in absentia for major offences.

Accused of rebellion and misuse of public funds, Junqueras faces up to 25 years in jail.

On Tuesday, former regional government spokesman Jordi Turull took the stand, defending his acts and that of his colleagues.

“It's totally normally to try and do what you promised to citizens of Catalonia in a peaceful and democratic manner,” he told the seven judges at the Supreme Court.

The independence bid sparked Spain's deepest political crisis since the transition to democracy in the 1970s after the death of dictator Francisco Franco.

Independence supporters and the defendants' lawyers maintain they are on trial for their ideas and for political dissidence.

Prosecutors, though, insist the separatist leaders and activists are being tried for their actions and not for what they think.

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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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