Barcelona’s beaches could vanish as authorities abandon ‘enhancement’ – the Guardian

Barcelona's Promenade and Somorrostro Beach with the hotel W Barcelona in the background (by Falco Ermert CC BY 2.0 via Flickr).

For the 1992 Olympic Games, Barcelona rediscovered the sea. It beefed up its beachfront using thousands of tons of sand, and the area is now packed with tourists and lined with beach bars. Barcelona’s beach may be partly artificial, but it’s big business. The way things are going, however, soon there won’t be any beach at all. Across Catalonia, rising sea levels and winter storms are eating away at the coastline…