The environmental platform “Sos Costa Brava” protested on July 30 against the urbanization Sa Riera Living, built on three hectares of pine forest on the coast of Begur (Girona).Miquel Riera
The wild and predatory urbanization of the territory has destroyed landscapes, forests and even protected environments in Spain, but has particularly affected the coasts. The bloodiest example is El Algarrobico, an illegal seafront hotel in Almería that hasn’t been demolished for more than 16 years, but other similar buildings occupy beaches and cliffs across the country. Only environmentalists have spoken out against this looting. Spurred on by the impetus of various NGOs, Catalonia is creating a pioneering institution to protect its coasts from speculation: the Conservatorio del Litoral, an entity that mimics – even in name – the cutting-edge facility that has operated in France since 1975, where it has already bought 13% of the coast to keep it from urbanization. Although the conservatory will take a few months to become operational, it will have the budget to start its work in 2023. Neither the state nor other coastal communities plan similar organizations; although national parks and the ministries with environmental powers have bought land deliberately, never systematically and almost never on the coast.
“In Spain we don’t have a similar number because this opportunity to acquire coastal land and farms to add them to the Maritime-Terrestrial Public Domain (DPMT) is held and exercised by the General Directorate of the Coasts,” says a spokesman for the Ministry of Ecology change . This domain is the strip of land closest to the sea, the first 100 meters, although it can be more if there are swamps or other elements. Spanish legislation “has a guarantee character and cannot be built in this area,” says the ministry; Existing construction in this area predates the 1988 Coastal Law. Outside this strip there are generally no restrictions and it is precisely these lands that are treated by the Catalan Conservatory. The state does not think about it for the time being.
“Once again, the path of culture and respect for heritage and architecture comes from Catalonia,” says Andrés Rubio, author of the recent España fea (Debate), a crude essay denouncing the country’s urban chaos. “What is really disappointing is that it is not the state that is establishing the coastal conservatory in Spain in agreement with the autonomous coastal communities, which once again demonstrates the ignorance of Spanish political leaders in relation to the conservation of the territory,” he laments .
The Hotel El Algarrobico, declared illegal and located in Carboneras (Almería)Julián Rojas
“The Conservatoire du Littoral was created in 1975 to help protect French coasts from real estate speculation,” explains Arnault Graves, Delegate for the French institution’s Channel North Sea coast. “Since then we have acquired around 200,000 hectares, more than 13% of the French coast, although in some regions the figure is closer to 30%,” he continues. The autonomous body, which reports to the Ministry of Ecological Transition of the neighboring country, seeks to preserve areas of great cultural heritage adjoining the maritime-terrestrial public domain, to preserve the natural capital and social well-being of these areas, and to protect these fragile environments of extreme climate phenomena caused by climate change. They look for land of high natural value and try not to succumb to the bulldozers.
Purificació Canals, the only Spanish member of the Conservatory’s scientific committee, stresses that in France, protecting the landscape is a national policy. “Whoever promoted this body were not environmentalists, but President Giscard d’Estaing and his Prime Minister Jacques Chirac, little suspected of being radical environmentalists.” In this committee are biologists (like Canals), sociologists, lawyers, philosophers… When the organization buys a piece of land, the 15 members of the committee are responsible for meeting with ranchers, farmers, mayors, environmentalists. “We visit the space, we study its characteristics, and in the end we form an opinion to propose how the place can be restored, taking into account ecological but also social aspects,” says Canals.
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Wetlands of the Marais d’Orx nature reserve, part of the Conservatoire du littoral Andia (Getty)
This recovery can be done in a number of ways. “If the area has been used for agriculture or livestock, it will be cared for, but with ecological criteria. Degraded ecosystems are restored and restored to their natural state. And in many cases, the accesses are made possible so that people can adequately enjoy these spaces,” the biologist continues. Their annual budget is 50 million euros, and they also receive donations. 180 agents are responsible for managing these sites, while 900 Coast Guards guard them to keep them in good condition. This becomes a wealth for the country: according to the Conservatory, these places are visited by about 40 million visitors annually.
And why not in Spain?
The French example has permeated the nearby Girona coast. “If you cross the border you will see that the entire coast of Banyuls-sur-Mer is protected. Why can’t we have the same thing here?” complains the lawyer Eduard de Ribot bitterly. “In 2018, several environmental organizations analyzed planning in 22 municipalities on the Costa Brava and we saw that 250 developments could be built by the sea, in forested areas, on beaches… That’s why we created Sos Costa Brava,” he says. As a bloody example, he cites the SJardins de Sa Riera Living urbanization on the coast of Begur (Girona), built on three hectares of Mediterranean pine forest, and where they protested on July 30th. The company brought its claims to the Generalitat of Catalonia, which passed a Coastal Protection Law in 2020, promising to encourage moratoria on building houses in this area and to open a Coastal Conservatory within a year.
The environmental platform “Sos Costa Brava” protests on July 30 against the wild urbanization of the Girona coast. Michael Rivera
Ferran Miralles, project manager at the Directorate for Mountain and Coastal Policies of the Generalitat, explains that due to administrative procedures, it has been impossible to meet this deadline, which may still last a few months, but he informs EL PAÍS that his department will do so Manage a budget of at least two million euros in 2023 to start acquiring land during this transitional period. “This amount will also be used if the budgets are extended. When you start a project like this, you have to define a strategy, look at the markets, develop projects… And everything goes slowly at first. It makes sense to start with that amount and then gradually increase it.” SOS Costa Brava believes it is little: “Pro-rata we should spend 4.5 million, but we propose to use half of what is through the tourist tax is collected on the coast, which is about 11 million,” says Irene Gisbert, his spokeswoman.
The Catalan government has launched a public consultation to decide what legal form its conservatory should have: an autonomous body – based on the French model -, a consortium with other administrations, or the transfer of these functions to the Catalan Soil Institute or the Nature Agency of Catalonia in 2020. “We demand that it be an autonomous body and not be diluted in other authorities. The coast is the most densely populated, the most fragile and the most exposed to the pressure of speculation,” criticizes environmentalist Gisbert. Miralles of the Generalitat disagrees: “There are ways to allocate a specific and verifiable budget for this purpose without creating new structures. We have to find a balance between ambition and the efficiency of public funds.” The consultation will end in October and then the Generalitat will decide on this aspect.
Whatever its form, there will be a Coastal Conservatory in Catalonia. Andrés Rubio believes that it will be a “first step” against the Spanish urban chaos. “Patrioticism, properly understood, runs through the countryside, but in Spain there is a conspiracy against it. Here, the patriots are only interested in the intangible—the flags—but they compress the material to get the most benefit out of it. The system applied, deregulated and pro-corrupt, follows the American model, although it should have followed the French example closest, which considers the defense of territory as a patriotic factor and a national identity,” he denounces. He calls for the creation of a similar state figure, which environmentalists also share.
Former Camping Bellafosca in Palamós (Girona) where 12 single-family houses are to be built. You can see how in several areas the 100 meters of the public area are not respected.Paisatges Verticals (Sos Costa Brava)
Teresa Ribera’s department highlights that “Coastal properties have been acquired in the past and are also acquired in the present for their incorporation into public property when deemed expedient for the protection of certain enclaves”, without specifying for which or for which amounts. Purificació Canals confirms that land was purchased at very specific times by both the PP and PSOE governments, specifically by the National Parks Autonomous Body. “The state has taken over farms, but not systematically, and besides, nothing has been done with them or they have been opened to the public. For this reason, a Spanish Coastal Conservatory is needed to continue this purchasing and management policy”.
The urbanization Sa Riera Jardins in Begur (Girona), built on three hectares of Mediterranean pine forest. Miquel Riera (Sos Costa Brava)
The coastal communities have no intention of copying this organism either. The Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands counter that they have no jurisdiction over coasts and that they already have large protected areas on the coast. However, Catalonia has minimal powers in relation to the management of permits in the public sphere and in any case the spectrum over which action needs to be taken is much wider. “On the Balearic Islands, almost all nature reserves have been created to avoid the large-scale buildings planned there,” says a spokeswoman for the island’s government. Meanwhile, Murcia doesn’t consider that figure necessary, although it’s the municipality with the most corruption cases in Spain – according to the CGPJ case archive and a La Laguna University study – linked mainly to predatory coastal urbanism. Andalusia, Galicia and the Canary Islands did not respond to the newspaper’s questions.
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