This year once again saw the City Police Sports Club organise a seabed cleaning exercise along the Barcelona coast, promoting respect for the city’s natural environment and raising awareness about its fragility.
The 15th Barcelona Coastline Seabed Clearing Exercise took place this week and was organised by the diving section of the City Police Sports Club. The exercise enjoyed the collaboration of the Barcelona Fire Service and, as ever, the facilities at the Vanas Dive centre.
The activity began on Tuesday and concluded on Thursday after 700 kilos of waste was collected. Over the three days, a total of 70 volunteers from the City Police Sports Club, the Barcelona Fire Service and the diving centre worked underwater around the city’s groynes to clean all the waste generated in the summer. The initiative forms part of the Sustainable Development Goals linked to the 2030 Agenda.
The exercise was conducted at the Gas, Sant Sebastià, Bogatell and Nova Icària groynes, as well as those at Mar Bella, Bac de Roda and Selva de Mar. Cleaning was carried out on the rocks by the surface water at the groynes, as well as the part beneath the surface, where non-organic waste such as plastic packaging, glass and cans accumulates.
To carry out the exercise, organised by the Sports Club since 2008, the City Police deployed a boat and a quad bike from its beach group to provide support for divers in the water around the groynes.
Besides helping with environmental maintenance along the city coastline so that the general public can enjoy the area, this initiative makes it possible to identify points where uncivil behaviour occurs.