Catalan government expands bird protection area next to Barcelona airport

The Catalan government approved on Tuesday the expansion of the bird reserve in the Llobregat Delta, just outside Barcelona airport.

The Special Zone of Protection of Birds (ZEPA) will be expanded by 157% and a package of measures will be implemented to strengthen the protection of this area.

These measures will increase the number of protected hectares from 935 to 2,407.

This expansion has been a long demand from the European Commission, which in 2021 urged the Catalan and Spanish governments the lack of protection of this area after the latest extension of the Barcelona airport and port.

The government believes that with the new protected area, "the requirement and need to comply with the conditions" in front of a new expansion of the Barcelona airport will increase.

However, the Spanish government could overcome this by claiming reasons of general interest, but will then have to apply compensations to protect new areas.

Airport expansion plans 

The future of Barcelona's El Prat airport has been a topic of debate for years, which intensified in 2021.

Although most parties agree that the airport should become an intercontinental hub in one form or another, they disagree on how this should be done.

While some advocate expanding the airport's facilities, others want to improve its competitiveness without further construction.

At the heart of the debate is a plan to extend runway 24L/06R, the one closest to the sea, by 500 meters, and any work on it would affect the Ricarda Natural Park lagoon.

This natural area has special EU protection as an important habitat for biodiversity and any plans would have to be approved at European level.

To compensate, Aena, the Spanish airport authority, proposes to reforest about 280 hectares of land on the opposite side of the airport from where the Ricarda lagoon is located.