Environmental activists protest at Barcelona airport against expansion

A group of environmental activists protested at the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona El Prat airport's Terminal 1 on Sunday afternoon against the expansion of the infrastructure.

The demonstration saw a group of people in red sitting down and forming a red line to symbolize that politicians crossed the red line when approving an airport expansion that would see an investment of €3.2 billion.

The event took place coinciding with the last day of the 'Stay Grounded' conference held at the Catalan capital from Friday to Sunday at the Bloc4 of Can Batlló, a former factory now run by residents to use it as a social site in Sants neighborhood and unrelated to Antoni Gaudí's Casa Batlló on Passeig de Gràcia boulevard.

The red line also symbolized "the opposition by a large part of society" to the airport's expansion, protesters of the Zeroport group said in a written statement. "The airport's expansion is a red line that governments should never have to cross," Ecologistes en Acció, another environmentalist group, said.

The airport expansion would see a 500-meter sea runway 24L/06R extension, and to offset the impacts on the protected natural area of La Ricarda, there are plans to rewild more than 250 hectares. Barcelona Airport currently operates with two main runways: one to the north, closer to the mountains, and another to the south, near the sea.

Before wrapping up, activists flew paper planes with notes on why to oppose the airport's "unacceptable enlargement" and what consequences it would have in the social, environmental, climate, and public health sectors.

Zeroport has warned that actions will "continue and even intensify in the upcoming months" to block the Barcelona airport expansion, as it happened in 2021. Back then, activists demonstrated against a potential €1.7 billion deal to enlarge the infrastructure, citing the same problematics: climate change, mass tourism, public health, housing, and environmental impact. 

At the time, the Catalan government, led by pro-independence left-wing Esquerra Republicana, disagreed with the project after a first agreement with the Spanish government.

The Catalan and Spanish governments agreed to expand the facility on August 2, 2021, including building a new satellite terminal and extending one of the existing runways.

The plan also foresaw connecting the Barcelona - El Prat airport with those of Girona and Reus, in the north and south of Catalonia, respectively, with a high-speed railway line.

Yet, on September 3, Aena's final plan for the expansion, which explicitly made mention of construction in the La Ricarda lagoon nature reserve area, was revealed – while Spain said this was already in the August 2 deal, Catalonia said this was not true, demanded explanations, and called for an amendment to the planned expansion.

The day after, the Catalan executive sent a "shared" message that it would not endorse any proposal to expand Barcelona-El Prat Airport that "destroys" the adjacent La Ricarda lagoon.