The expansion of El Prat, unacceptable
The proposed expansion of the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport once again endangers one of Catalonia's most fragile and valuable natural areas: the Llobregat Delta. Given the announcement made this week by AENA and the Generalitat (Catalan government), it is necessary to firmly oppose any project that would further impact this environment, especially while Spain is facing an infringement procedure with the European Commission (case EU-Pilot 5866/13/ENVI) for the poor management of this area.
The Llobregat Delta, declared a Special Protection Area for Birds (SPA) and recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA), has suffered decades of degradation caused by infrastructure, urban development, and administrative inaction. The 2002 airport expansion already had serious environmental consequences. According to the European Commission, the State failed to prevent the deterioration of natural values, failed to adequately assess the cumulative impacts of adjacent projects, and failed to comply with agreed compensatory measures.
Despite this background and the repeated failure to comply with environmental obligations, the authorities are once again proposing an expansion that would directly or indirectly affect protected areas of the Natura 2000 Network. And they are doing so without having resolved the previous shortcomings, without having fully implemented the plan. It is unacceptable to propose any new intervention before the European file is closed and a sustained recovery of protected bird populations is demonstrated. Even compensatory measures corresponding to the previous airport expansion are still pending. For all these reasons, the announced project is out of place.
The current proposal incorporates supposed environmental improvements, such as a 1:10 compensation ratio for habitats of community interest and an "optimized" intervention on runway 06R/24L. However, the European framework is clear: any impact on Natura 2000 sites can only be justified on compelling grounds of public interest and after all alternatives have been ruled out. And under no circumstances can it be based on the argument of compensating for future destruction when past compensation has not been met.
The priority must be reversing the loss of biodiversity. The expansion of the SPA planned by the Generalitat (Catalan government) in July 2024 may be a first step, but much more is needed. The protection of the Delta must be effective and guaranteed, not a promise conditional on infrastructure development. It is essential to apply the precautionary principle: no new project should see the light of day until the ecological balance of the Delta has been restored and the future of its birds and habitats has been secured.
Natura 2000 areas cannot be subject to economic interests. Their conservation must respond to strictly ecological criteria. Anything else would be repeating past mistakes and jeopardizing a natural heritage we cannot afford to lose.