The Villa of Monaco, the cliff where the Palais Princier and the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco are located, is a lookout located on a rock above the coast from where the Grimaldis have observed for centuries the importance of the sea and, in the recent decades, the need to preserve it. Prince Albert II of Monaco visited Barcelona on Tuesday and Wednesday to reaffirm this support for the protection of the ocean in its entirety, as, for the son of Rainier III and Grace Kelly, marine conservation has become a State matter.
During his reign, Albert II continued his father's dream of expanding towards the Mediterranean by gaining land at sea with artificial land extensions. The environmental impact that this has on the small principality of 208 hectares with just 4.1 km of coastline has always been treated with respect by the prince. For example, in the design of Le Portier, the new extension of 6 hectares of Monaco's surface towards the sea that will be inaugurated in 2025. This will be the great project that will mark his reign and, despite the fact that his mark on the cost is inevitable, the project has been conceived by the prince's express wish to be an ecological example that preserves as much as possible the Mediterranean flora and fauna.
On Tuesday, Prince Albert II starred in a scene of redemption inaugurating the exhibition És l'hora d'actuar, located in Port Vell until April 15. As soon as we got out of the car it started to rain, but the sun quickly came out and the rainbow gave the opportunity for a cinematic sea scene.
On Wednesday, during his speech at the opening of the Conference on the Decade of the Oceans 2024, promoted by Unesco and held at the International Convention Center in Barcelona, the prince emphasized the importance of science "to take collective measures, anticipate challenges and finding responsible solutions". He also announced the launch of the next Monaco Explorations expedition, a scientific mission that aims to observe the ocean as part of a strategic initiative to protect certain maritime and coastal areas.
The Monegasque royal family, from its mixture of kingdom, family business and paradise for millionaires, has shown over the centuries a special interest in the sea and science. The great-grandfather of the current monarch, Albert I, dedicated a large part of his life to the study of the oceans. He liked maritime expeditions and discoveries and was the one who created the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, whose director was the explorer Jacques Cousteau for decades.
In the years of the construction boom in the microstate, during the reign of Rainier III, Grace Kelly's husband was quite a businessman who saw the sea as the only opportunity to expand the kingdom. He was called the prince builder in his attempt to develop the maximum deal economy, and he managed to increase the area of the principality by more than 20%. Meanwhile, he also attracted the attention of the world for his marriage and for the arrival on his shores of the jet set for the transformation of Monaco into a (not only tax) paradise.
Albert II has had to do the same as his entire generation, to progress with an eye on environmental conservation, as he has demonstrated in his two days in Barcelona. "It is my duty to take my part in the challenge thrown at my generation: to find solutions to preserve our planet, our most precious asset", he said after publishing L'Homme et l'océan, his first book, in which details the challenges to conserving the oceans.
His children, Jaume, the crown prince, and his sister Gabriela, 9 years old, are still young enough to get involved in environmental causes. But the daughter Albert had before marrying Princess Charlene, 32-year-old Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, who does not perform official tasks, does seem interested in humanitarian tasks, since through her own foundation, she managed to some years different actions in the Fiji Islands.
