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ELECTION

Catalan leader denies ties to jailed radical separatists accused of terrorism

The head of Catalonia's regional government on Thursday denied having links to seven separatist activists jailed in September on suspicion of belonging to a "terrorist" group that planned to occupy the Spanish region's parliament.

Published: 8 November 2019 08:51 CET
Catalan leader denies ties to jailed radical separatists accused of terrorism
Photo: AFP

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who is facing a general election on Sunday, had demanded that Catalan president Quim Torra explain after local media reported that members of the group had told investigators that the order to occupy the assembly came directly from Torra.   

According to transcripts of tapped phone conversations included in court documents seen by AFP, two of the jailed activists discussed a plan to occupy Catalonia's regional parliament in Barcelona with “the Catalan government inside” and “resist during one week”.   

In the recorded conversations, one of the suspected leaders of the group implicated Torra and his predecessor Carles Puigdemont, who is currently in Belgium, calling them by the code names “Gandalf” and “Lisa”.

In a video of his interrogation by police which was leaked to the media, the man also said that the plan “came from the presidency…from Torra”.   

Catalonia's regional government said in a statement that Torra “denies” the reports which lacked “any type of credibility”.

“Moreover, he maintains he hasn't had any type of relationship with the detained,” the statement added.

'Threats and coercion'

Spain's Guardia Civil police force suspects the activists had planned to occupy the Catalan parliament after Spain's Supreme Court on October 14th sentenced nine Catalan separatist leaders to jail terms of up to 13 years, prompting days of angry street protests.   

Police in September arrested nine separatists, accusing them of belonging to a new and unknown group, the Tactical Response Team.   

Spain's top criminal court, which had ordered the investigation into the group, ordered that seven of them to be held in jail while the probe continues.   

The court suspects the group allegedly intended to use “any means, including violent ones” to establish an independent republic and possessed materials that could be used to make explosives.

The group's lawyer Xavi Pellicer said “the accusations of terrorism do not hold up by any means” and that the case was part of a “politically motivated” attempt to criminalise the Catalan independence movement.

He also said the suspects made their statements to police following “threats and coercion”.

READ MORE: Meet Catalonia's 'remainers': The 'silent majority' who don't want independence

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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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