Urban Planning, Ecological Transition, Urban Services and Housing

The trial period for non-smoking beaches was well received by city beachgoers, who gave the beaches in question a score of 8.2 out of 10 for the 2021 bathing season. Implemented at the beaches of Sant Miquel, Somorrostro, Nova Icària and Nova Mar Bella, the initiative helped reduce the number of smokers in these locations and the volume of cigarette butts left in the sand.

The results were obtained by comparing the Nova Icària beach (non-smoking) with the Bogatell beach (smoking). The percentage of smokers at the non-smoking beach dropped from 3.8% before the pilot stage to 3%, while the Bogatell saw the volume of smokers rise from 2.3% to 9.9%. In addition, three exercises were conducted during the season to clear up cigarette butts, with fewer butts per user collected at the non-smoking beach by comparison.

Volume and services

The balance for this year’s bathing season also shows that the beaches are one of the most used spaces in the city, regaining pre-pandemic volumes with a total of 3.8 million users, despite the regulation of access and the measures in place. The busiest times at the beaches were from 4 pm at the beaches of Barceloneta, Sant Miquel and Sant Sebastià. Cleaning and maintenance services were bolstered to ensure the beaches were in good condition.

Information staff also had a stronger presence to explain the health measures in place, environmental aspects and services. Information was provided for 214,899 users in all, 43% of them tourists, while 21 information towers were set up at different access points to the beach. In addition, the municipal beaches website offered full information for users, including real-time data on how busy the beaches were.

The rescue and life-saving service acted on a similar number of occasions to busier years: medical care (3,883), taking people to hospital (145), sea rescue (100) and lost people (228). For its part, the assisted bathing service help users on 22,249 occasions, with users rating it as excellent.

Water quality

The volume of waste collected in the water this year was up by 8.65m³ compared to 2019, mainly at the beaches of Sant Miquel, Barceloneta, Nova Icària and Bogatell, where there was more activity at night. Plastic accounted for 37% of this waste, followed by other waste such as personal hygiene products, wipes, cloths, string and wire (32%) and natural wood (31%). Waste collected from the sand and from waste bins remained at the same levels as 2020.

Finally, the balance highlights bathing water quality, which remained excellent throughout the season except for three episodes of rain. The beaches where water quality was best were Sant Sebastià, Nova Mar Bella and the Fòrum.