The deputy mayor for Ecology and Urban Planning of the Barcelona City Council, Janet Sanz, has sent a letter to the Minister of the Presidency of the Generalitat, Laura Vilagrà, demanding an "urgent" call for a meeting between the administrations to set "a reasonable limit to the arrival of cruise ships to the port this summer”. The municipal government chaired by Ada Colau demands a "clear and precise regulation, without prejudice to the study of other measures that may be agreed in the medium and long term."
In the letter, Sanz reiterates his government's concern about "the massive increase in cruise tourism" and recalls that the Generalitat-Barcelona City Council mixed commission agreed on June 2, 2022 to create a study table to assess the situation of this activity in the city. The first meeting was held on July 18 and it was agreed to take measures to minimize inconvenience, avoid saturation of public space and guarantee environmental improvement.
"As of today -continues the person in charge of Ecology of the City Council- we are not aware that on the part of the Generalitat, the Port or the state any specific action has been undertaken in the short, medium or long term". And she adds that a few days ago the sector's employers' association (CLIA) made some forecasts indicating that this year the record figures for 2019 will be reached, with almost 3.2 million visitors. "These are alarming data," concludes Janet Sanz.
The municipal official also points out that the Government of the Generalitat approved a few days ago the declaration of exceptionality due to drought, "which will not make the situation worse." According to Janet Sanz, the CLIA figures are inconsistent with the proposals that the City Council moved in July of last year: a limit of 200,000 passengers per month and limit the arrival of cruise ships to a maximum of three per day.
Likewise, Janet Sanz recalls in the letter addressed to the Minister of the Presidency that other European cities are already adopting measures to reduce the impact of cruise ships. He gives the example of the Balearic Government, which has set a limit of three boats a day and only one of them with more than 5,000 passengers, or Venice, which has limited the number of boats to prevent them from entering the city, or Dubrovnik, which limits daily visits to two ships and 4,000 people.
One of the new arguments used by the Barcelona City Council has had the corresponding reply from the port, which this week is participating in Seatrade, the most important fair in the cruise sector, which is held in Fort Lauderdale (Florida). The port of Barcelona has pointed out that, thanks to the technological and innovation effort made in recent years, the water consumption of a cruise passenger is only a quarter of that of a city inhabitant. In fact, adds the port of Barcelona, 80% of the stops that cruise ships make in the Catalan capital do not carry water since the ships are equipped with their own desalination and water treatment plants.
In its participation in the sector's fair, the port of Barcelona also recalled that cruise passengers from the base port, who end or begin their journey in Barcelona, will represent 60% of the total this year. For this 2023, the forecast of cruise calls is about 800 and in 62% of the cases they correspond to ships less than 10 years old and, therefore, less polluting.
This year, 20% of the cruise calls in Barcelona are for ships that can be propelled with liquefied natural gas, a fuel that reduces polluting emissions compared to older fleets.
