Unexpected turn in just a few days. Finally, the sand from dredging the mouths of the ports of Sitges will end up on two of the beaches most affected by the recent storms: those of Sant Sebastià and Garraf. Despite frontal opposition during the last five years of the municipal government, the mayor, Aurora Carbonell, has given in because the Coastal Demarcation in Catalonia will ask the Ministry for the Ecological Transition to declare a state of emergency for the beaches after the last storm.
The mayor now affirms that “she will collaborate in everything that is necessary.” And she expresses “the importance of adding synergies between all the administrations involved to work with measures that address this situation.” Carbonell added yesterday that "as we have always said, we are contemplating these measures, which are extraordinary, to address exceptional situations and to ensure that our beaches can be used" although he insisted that "it is necessary to continue working on longer-term measures." .
But until just a few days ago, the mayor was against dumping sand from the port mouths into the decimated sandbanks, citing environmental issues, as La Vanguardia published on Monday. “The sand that has been dredged for safety reasons from the Port of Sitges of Aiguadolç has been deposited in a strategic point so that the dynamics of the coastline take it to the beaches of Balmins and Sant Sebastià,” she explained without asking that this sand be destined for the beaches. Port de Sitges, against her will, has ended up dumping 6,000m3 of sand into the sea.
Oskar Stöber, the president of a Gremi d'Hostelería de Sitges who ended up leaving the coastal table indignantly alleging the "inaction" of the City Council, celebrated yesterday that the government chaired by Carbonell "has finally seen, although they were the last to realize "It is clear that the only short-term solution to save the summer season in the face of the current emergency is to dump sand on the beaches." Of course, Stöber, who remembers that they have been demanding this solution for years, wants the actions to be carried out on all the beaches in Sitges that require it, and not just those of Sant Sebastià and Garraf, and that the promenade is also protected. .
The president of Ports Catalunya-Catalan Association of Sports and Tourist Ports and executive president of the Port of Sitges-Aiguadolç, Albert Bertran, celebrated that the mayor "has given her arm to twist". Bertran says that the dredging will be paid for by the Ministry and that the sand will be dumped on the beaches within a month. They will extract 20,000 m3 of sand from each of the mouths of the ports of Sitges. The Port of Sitges will be allocated to Sant Sebastià beach and Vallcarca y Cubelles beach; that of the port of Garraf on its own Les Casetes beach and that of Port Ginesta on the sands of Baix Llobregat and Barcelonès.
