Overview

• Barcelona’s government has requested a €60 million budget to install breakwaters along 42 kilometers of metropolitan coastline, including Montgat’s beaches.
• Ramon Torra and other officials say structural defenses like breakwaters are essential because repeated sand replacements cannot halt ongoing losses.
• Montgat experienced severe erosion after April 2024 storms produced 5-meter waves, and local authorities report only a third of last year’s beach remains.
• EU Copernicus data show Europe’s temperatures have risen twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, driving a 14-centimeter sea-level rise and 30-centimeter increase in wave heights on the Catalan coast.
• Local businesses and residents warn that unchecked beach loss threatens summer tourism revenues and public access to coastal spaces.