Barcelona area beaches lose 20% of its sand in a year due to storms
Local authorities blame erosion on construction of nearby ports and urge long-term solutions
Beaches in the Barcelona area will have 20% less sand this summer than last year due to recent storms.
Montgat, in Maresme, northeast of Barcelona, is considered the "epicenter" of the erosion of the metropolitan coast. It has lost almost all of its beaches in the last decade.
The director of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), Ramon Torra, has asked to "stop looking for excuses in climate change" and urged authorities to take long-term measures to solve the problem.
"It is not fair for one city to pay the consequences of what has been built in the next city," he said, referring to the Port of Barcelona and Masnou.
Torra said that the beaches are "highly artificialized" and that it "makes no sense" to add sand every year.
"We cannot simply say that the sea is gaining its space, we need new infrastructure that helps avoid future losses," he said.
The loss of sand in Montgat's beaches has also had an economic impact on its residents. Since all the beach bars had to close, the town lost around €360,000, according to mayor Andreu Absil.
Catalan beaches have been losing water for decades. Almost two out of three Catalan beaches have lost sand and surface area in the last seventy years.
Every year, around 11 million people visit a beach in the Barcelona metropolitan area, making it the most visited natural space in the area.
Showers opened as drought improves
Recent rains have improved the severe drought that Catalonia has faced for the past three years, allowing the government to ease water restrictions.
Last year, shower services on beaches were severely reduced. In Barcelona alone, beaches had only one shower per beach running on each of the city's nine beaches.
This year, however, up to 20% of the showers on the beaches of the Barcelona area will open.
In some cities, the number of available showers will double compared to last year.
However, their opening has suffered a delay because the authorities had to clean and control their sanitation due to being closed for so long.