How Green and Sustainable is Barcelona?

What is Barcelona doing to become greener and sustainable?

After the lack of consensus in many areas during COP25 summit regarding climate change, it is clear that our governments and our citizens still have a long path ahead to mend things up before it is too late to save us from extinction in this planet which by the way will prevail with or without us. So it is quite obvious that every single measure, be it performed by an individual or by the state, counts.

Solving this existential problem is vital and requires every effort. Of course increasing green space in the city, nurturing our natural lungs is not enough if 70 % of the metropolitan area favors cars. 

There is no time for the trees to absorb all that CO2 and it is more practical to cut down on cars than sowing a jungle out there. 

Sometimes, the air in Barcelona is quite good, in some quarters more than others but the yearly average does not meet with recommended measures. It is not that we are one of the most polluted cities in the world, but it is rather stupid to think of the patch of atmosphere above us as an impermeable bubble. We ruin this spot and that will have repercussions all over the globe.

It is necessary that an agreement is reached and that countries stop behaving like kids. Children are often wiser I would say. 

The fact that the car industry is a huge business run by not so scrupulous lobbies, happily sustained by 'greedy' consumers, not too willing to consider the battle to stop pollution as a top priority, does not mean we cannot work on putting some filters in the house in the way of green spaces scattered not only in the surroundings but in the very center of our part of the world, Barcelona in this case.

Barcelona is among the most crowded cities in Europe with a population of 1.636.762 inhabitants in a 101.35 km² surface and so there are a lot of cars. From that huge amount, 570.000 do not carry any label certifying its level of pollution because they simply are highly contaminating vehicles. This is all about to change by decree thanks to local government measures in 2020. Cars like those won't be allowed in the city anymore. 

Besides this important news, there is literally an invasion of personal electric two wheel vehicles and I think things are going to get better. 

But wait a minute, what about the green?! 

25 % of Barcelona is covered or adorned with trees. They tend to last 50 years and there is a sort of 20 year plan, ending in 2037 to improve their quality and quantity. Take the case of plane trees, a traditional species in Barcelona. We keep them because they have been part of our culture for more than a century but they get sick more often and make people sick with their pollen. So not any tree will do. They must resist the new adversities of climate change as well.

Fortunately, we have beautiful green areas in the small hills around and inside Barcelona like Parc del Guinardo (in the pictures), Parc de Montjuic, Collserola Range Natural Park or charming and romantic style Ciutadella Park and Parc del Laberint. 

Evidently, as we emphasized at the beginning, it is difficult to filter insane proportions of CO2 and other contaminating agents by turning Barcelona into a jungle, and of course not just planting trees

without criteria, that's why we need new plans, plans for the industry and plans for green spaces in a way that we create a balanced urban ecosystem. One of the most outstanding measures regarding the latter is the Greenery and Biodiversity Plan  or the Green-Infrastructure Impetus Plan - Barcelona intends to have an extra 1 m² of greenery per resident by 2030!

Check here for more information on Barcelona environment and sustainability

And on January 15th, 2020 Barcelona has declared a state of climate emergency and a plan of action for the next decade that includes 100 measures and a 563.3 million euros budget. Measures will apply on seven main areas: mobility, urban planning, food, economy, energy, consumption - recycling of waste and culture - education.

These actions add up to a previous strategic plan adopted in 2018 known as the Pla Clima (Barcelona Climate Plan).

As you can see we can work on a better planet for our children. It is yet to be seen whether politicians and social agents, whether we as individuals fulfill our promises.

Man Napping

Resuming my topic on not so touristic issues here is another shot showing people that in one way or the other are neglected by our society or live their particular personal drama which indirectly leads them into a similar status. I am not sure this is a homeless man, judging by the leather jacket, but obviously the nap is not that you have after a copious meal. Whatever the situation is, I thought the picture could help bringing up the idea of precariousness and other social hardships in Barcelona. The place, a park in carrer Aragó at the intersection with Enric Granados.

Portraying Beggars in Photography

Portraying beggars in our images, shooting at them pointblank, is tough. One should always be aware that our mission is to denounce and not to profit on people's misfortune. No matter how good your intentions are, it will always be hard and there will be a thin line between photo journalism and privacy invasion, between social report and unnecessary overexposure of the weak. Who are we to judge? No one.Will it help grow awareness? Certainly, yes. The camera is just a silent witness, a mere reflection of an instant in our collective reality as captured by one individual. There are so many moments out there that need to be recorded for our collective mind to be more self conscious!

Big Brother in Las Ramblas: Crime Ridden Streets or Privacy Breach?

Anyone that has visited or lives in Barcelona is perfectly aware of the fact that Las Ramblas is not the safest place in the world. The more crowded it gets the more pickpockets per square meter there are. The situation was getting so bad that extra surveillance was imperative and there came the cameras. As a result of this, you see less suspicious faces (thieves have this peculiar look when they are just about to steal) that undoubtedly are neither tourists nor locals in their daily routine simply because they have been pushed to neighboring narrow alleys away from big brother's perimetral vision. Once again punishment prevails over prevention. The root of petty offenses and misdemeanors lies many times in poverty, precariousness and exclusion and that should be the target point of our authorities before metastasis arrives.

Old Warehouses vs Barcelona Urban Planning

Back in late 80s of last century Barcelona started the transformation of its waterfront by demolishing the intricate artificial barrier of warehouses and industries in the area near La Barceloneta and part of Poblenou with an eye in the 1992 Olympic Games. It was said that for the first time the city had stopped turning its back on the sea. Here is an interesting post in Spanish with some old pictures of Barcelona coastline that will certainly give you an idea of what it was like. What started as a modest makeup ended up in a drastic change which is still alive and has permeated other areas of Barcelona not so close to the sea. After 20 years we have a radically new skyline "thanks" to the greediness for urban soil of foreign investors and local travel and real state companies in connivance with our politicians. Indirectly we have won a modern and attractive city although some are surely happier than we are after speculating on bricks. As you can see in the picture above, the last warehouses compete with new architecture and are bound to disappear soon to quench the thirst of our urban planners' dictates. Old warehouses have been used in the past as part of art activism in Barcelona although such initiatives are sabotaged by speculators that eventually succeed in their schemes (in fact I've just found out there was an art group established in this very place that disappeared in 2009 after two other previous forced evictions). To our leaders: thanks for the sea (we already had it although we did not see it), thanks for the new look and for making Barcelona more attractive and prosperous. Now, can you please stop building for money and consider more social and cultural investment?

So Close and Yet So Far

I had my doubts about the title this time. The picture could have been called Bad Companies, Dubious Shelter, Not So Safe, Sour Sweet Dreams or whatever. I finally decided for how something that is so close to this person like Bank Santander in this case can give him so little and yet ironically offer improvised shelter. Framing is awful, sorry about that. Red I kept to stress the logo of one of the most prosperous banks in Spain. The rest is obvious.

Immigrants: Through the Mirror

Ghosts pass you by, wandering, roaming the streets like penitent souls. You could swear you saw two of them out of the corner of your eye. You try not to stare at those in another dimension, passing through the mirror. They don't seem to be real, so "different" as they are. And there they go, in silence. They do stare at you from time to time, or so it seems, as if they would like to say something but they cannot communicate with you being on the other side. Someone sent them to that uncertain world to pay for sins that never were. But wait a minute, are you really sure which side you are? What if your side of the mirror is not paradise? Please don't judge other people by appearances, get rid of those prejudices, just who do you think you are? You are nothing but another monkey on the more idyllic side of the woods. Homo sapiens are just a bunch of immigrants no matter what. Who told us to leave from Africa anyway? Humans go from place to place at will. So it has been and so it should be forever more. Borders are meant to be trespassed. So think twice, maybe you are the immigrant next time.

Police Chase, La Ribera Quarter. Is Barcelona Less Safe?

Police chase I witnessed some time ago in the narrow streets of La Ribera quarter near Santa Caterina market in Barcelona. That day we were taking part in a photo walk organized by Barcelona Photobloggers and suddenly we saw this police car coming right towards us at an impossible speed for an alley like the one in the shot. Needless to say we all stuck our butts against the wall and got so scared that didn't even think of taking pictures. We were standing at an intersection, a cop headed down the street in the image and the car followed but some scaffolds got in the way and they stepped on the gas in reverse in the most pure Hollywood style and went up a slightly wider street. At that point, I remembered the camera and captured this blurry silhouette. I knew it was awful and distorted but I was surprised it had the mood of some documentary shooting. The following morning I read a young man had been killed in the subway and attackers had managed to escape in the narrow alleys nearby although they were caught some days later. Maybe not the same events but it could be.

Well, you know, this sort of things may happen in Barcelona too although it is not an everyday scene.  Or maybe it is but you get to see one or two a year. The fact we are not part of the action does not mean we should look the other way and pretend the problem does not exist.

According to last semester's official poll 43% of participants think the city is worse than before against a more positive 34%. The previous poll carried out in June 2009 showed an opposite result.

The number of people that think local authorities do their job correctly or efficiently is lower than in June but it is still favorable to present town hall administration. There is a certain feeling of being on the right track or so they say, as emphasis is being made on security this year. Results cannot adorn the evidence, 19,6% of citizens mention insecurity as their deepest concern, followed by unemployment voted by 17,6% of participants.

Of course I don't mean to scare anybody: Barcelona is not Sin City!

Bad Weather, Bad Times

On the most expensive street in Barcelona, Portal de l'Angel, comfort and poverty coexist. In the middle of this crisis beggars take the worse part, economy is going down the drain, consumers are not spending much and there's no money for charity. The weather seems to be rougher, the faces seem to be sadder. People wear last year's clothes, prefer to stay at home, talk less, worries about keeping the job and pray not to fall into disgrace. Yep, a very pessimistic panorama. Reality is tough and fairy tales sometimes don't have a happy ending. They say is going to last about two years. So we'll stick our heads beneath the sand and wait for the storm to pass. The barometer indicates low pressure apparently till further notice.