Sitges Town Council has carried out scientific studies on the beaches and coastline of the town, with the aim to inform the public about the behaviour of the sea and draw conclusions for the future of the Sitges seafront.
The first study details the changes in the coastline between 2009 and 2021. After assessing the sea currents, the impact of various storms and the effects of dredging sand, the study concludes that each beach has its own issues and that one solution cannot be applied to all.
Throughout the years, the Sitges northern beaches (such as Les Botigues) have suffered sand loss, whilst the southern ones have had the opposite effect and have even increased ground. This has led the researchers to conclude that specific measures are needed for each beach, but they also conclude that adding sand via dredging is an economically and environmentally unsustainable measure. To back the study’s conclusion, the figures show that the sand gained via dredging is lost in a few months, even without the impact of large storms to carry it away.
The local councillor for natural environment, Eduard Terrado, says that ‘these studies are tools for making decisions with objective data’ and argues that ‘we must adapt to reality and take appropriate measures which are sustainable in the long run’. You can click here for a PDF of the full coastline study.
Eduard Terrado has also commissioned a new phase of the renaturalisation of the Ribes stream, where more bushes and trees are expected to be planted this autumn. Click here for that report.
Marine ‘biotopes’ to hold buoys in place
Meanwhile, the local councillor for Sitges beaches, Guillem Escolà, has presented a study of the seabed from the beach to the buoys that mark the swimming areas, with the aim of changing the anchoring system of these buoys to a more ecological method. There are currently 55 buoys fixed by weights that are thrown to the bottom of the sea. Once the summer season is over, the weights are removed, causing the loss of sea life around them.
The plan of the Sitges department of beaches is to gradually replace the current anchorage system with ‘biotopes’ that are permanently installed on the seabed, in the most appropriate area found by carrying out the study. These biotopes would perform the function of holding the buoys in place when it is the swimming season, but they would not be removed at the end of the season, remaining instead at the bottom of the sea in order to promote marine fauna and flora.
Guillem Escolà said that the plan ‘is to change nine buoys each year to the biotope system, until we change them all’ and added that ‘with these permanent structures we want to encourage, for example, the laying of cuttlefish, which is very present between the port of Aiguadolç and San Sebastián according to the study of the seabed’. You can click here for a PDF of the full report.
Clearing of floating debris
Guillem Escolà also presented the results of a recent clean-up of the sea water off the Sitges coast. 505kg of floating debris was collected this season, between 50cm and the surface of the water. Of the total waste, 449kg was plastic (89% – 4,152 pieces); 26.8kg hygienic materials (5.3% – 246 pieces), 7.6kg sanitary materials (1.5% – 70 pieces), and others such as food scraps or masks (1.8% – 85 pieces). Escolà emphasised the ‘need to raise awareness that the sea is not a landfill’. Click here for a PDF of the full report.
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