The storm brings to the surface the fragility of the beaches in Catalonia

Wind and storms are surely the worst enemies of the Catalan coast. Storm Domingos has left visible damage in Barcelona and the Catalan coast this weekend: the beach of Nova Mar Bella in Barcelona, between the Bac de Roda and Selva de Mar, has suffered the erosion of the storm to the point of discovering some underground cables and allowing even more the sea to enter. In addition, part of the formigón walls of the promenade that contain the waves have been partially knocked down by the force of the sea, with waves up to three meters high and wind gusts of more than 70 kilometers per hour. In other coastal municipalities, such as Castelldefels, Sitges or Montgat, the beaches have also suffered the regression of the sand due to the strong wind.

In the interior of the towns, trees and branches have fallen over the weekend: in Barcelona about twenty trees fell during the first hours of the storm, on Thursday, a "usual" figure, according to the City Council; and city parks were closed as a precaution. The Generalitat also closed access to the nature reserves of La Fageda d'en Jordà and the Santa Margarida volcano (Girona) due to the danger of trees and branches falling due to the strong wind.

Destruction of the promenade at the height of Mar Bella Beach in Barcelona. MASSIMILIANO MINOCRI

After three days on alert, the Civil Protection of the Generalitat has deactivated this Sunday morning the Procicat plan due to strong waves "without outstanding incidents", once the Meteorological Service of Catalonia ended the warning of danger. The pre-alert for the strong wind has remained in place until noon. Civil Protection received more than 1,110 calls for almost 800 incidents in the first three days of the storm.

The scenario gives continuity to the damage caused by storms over the last few years, which increasingly erode the sandy surface. None, however, had the impact of the Glòria, at the beginning of 2020, in which the rains and winds continued for days engulfed the beaches of much of the coastline and even damaged railway infrastructure.

Constant loss

Experts warn that the regression of beaches is a growing risk, and according to studies by the municipal public company Barcelona Ciclo del Agua SA (BCASA), Barcelona's coastline has lost an average of 50,000 cubic metres of sand per year since 2010, although since 2015 the figure has fallen to 17,000.

The beaches managed by the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), on the other hand, had already lost 17% of surface area and 25% of sand between 2015 and 2019. The institution's latest report, in 2022, warned that coastal areas do not have the necessary infrastructure to cope with the increasingly frequent storms and the difficulty of achieving natural regeneration on beaches. Sand is already receding by an average of one meter per year on the beaches of the southern metropolitan coast, according to the report.

The loss of the sandy surface comes for different reasons: climate change (sea levels rise, storms are stronger and there are changes in wind and wave direction), coastal infrastructures that modify the dynamics of the coast, and the lack of natural sediment contribution due to the management of rivers.

You can follow EL PAÍS Catalunya on Facebook and X, or sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter