Hello there people!!! Finally, the end of the year is coming, and many of you may be wondering what’s the best place to celebrate in Barcelona. Could we go to Poble Espanyol and enjoy some of the best music hits in history? Or maybe we could stop by Marina Cristina Avenue and take a look at the biggest event of the night? However, let’s not fool ourselves, because many of us know that one of the favourite spots to spend the last minutes of the year are Barcelona’s beaches. And that's why we're writing this today:
It’s not news that Barcelona has a problem with pollution. You see it everywhere, from low emission zones where certain private vehicles are not allowed to drive, to services that promote travelling by bike or public transport. However, one of Barcelona’s most well hidden problems is the contamination to which the city’s beaches are exposed. This year, 2021, some of the most catastrophic episodes have taken place. Without going any further, during the festivities of La Mercè in September many of us heard of the well known “Botellones” taking place in Bogatell, Nova Icària, Mar Bella and Barceloneta, all of them familiar to us. The results, apart from the vandal and criminal acts that were reported in the news, were tons of garbage accumulated on the beaches. Studies have shown that, in this type of behavior, we are capable of creating thousands of kilos of rubbish (activists claim to collect from 60-70 kilos of waste every 2 hours), waste usually consisting of 70% glass, 12% highly contaminating plastics and 11% organic matter.
How many times have we had to watch out for remains of crystals on the ground before playing beach volleyball? And how many cigarette butts, plastics and bottle caps have we had to remove to lie down on the sand and enjoy ourselves at the beach? Partying at the beach and leaving your rubbish there has consequences for all of us that want to spend a good time in one of Barcelona’s best attractions. We all want to sunbathe, bathe in the sea, do yoga on the sand, stroll along the promenades, watch a sunset, play beach volleyball or paddle tennis without having to worry about finding wastes all around us every now and then. Moreover, this kind of contamination is also endangering more than 500 marine species that live along the city shores and contributes to the degradation of water quality, making bathing detrimental to our own health and well-being.
After all, Barcelona’s beaches are a public space. This means it is our responsibility to keep them clean and safe in order to continue enjoying them the way we do now. That’s why this 31st of December, if you are thinking about going partying to the beach remember: KEEP BARCELONA’S BEACHES CLEAN.
Bibliography:
https://www.elperiodico.com/es/barcelona/20210317/playa-mar-bella-6-contaminacion-11585716
https://www.elperiodico.com/es/barcelona/20211019/video-playa-forum-barcelona-especies-12300160