more than 8 years that Barcelona ask for one sand input for its beaches to Ministry of Ecological Transition. Town hall sources assure EL PERIÓDICO that they also need infrastructure improvements of protection of the coast so that this sand does not disappear when the episodes of strong swells. The last contribution of sand received by Barcelona dates back to the year 2010.
Since then, the beach has suffered a clear regression and a lot of surface has been lost. Added to this loss of natural sand are the consequences of intense storms, such as the Glory or Philomenawhich forcefully whipped the entire catalan coast.
This accumulation of difficulties caused the city council to claim sand again in 2022. The contribution was approved by the ministry but the tender carried out by the same ministry to carry out the process deserted. That is why it has been tendered again.
olympic invention
However, in the Ministry of Ecological Transition, currently, do not see so clearly that this contribution come true, since there are other priorities. Sources consulted by this newspaper detail that it will not be easy to answer to this request, since extract sand from the bottom of the sea or taking it out of the existing reserves in stores is not easy and the sand is not an infinite resource, aside from the fact that it has its Economic cost.
When the sand is obtained from the seabed, it is obtained through dredged (processes that consist of removing material from the seabed with powerful machinery) at sea or in the port mouths.
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Normally, these same sources remember, it is done in cases of emergency, after a storm, and it takes a while. In addition, the ministry points out that most of Barcelona’s beaches are not natural, they are artificial and they were assembled during the Olympic Games.
In Barcelona the vast majority of beaches did not exist before of the 1992 games. It is true that the first breakwater was built in the 15th century, which caused the accumulation of some sediment, but beyond the Barceloneta area, most of the beaches as we know them today were built in a during the 20th century to prepare the city for the olympic date.