Beaches at holiday hotspot visited by 7.9 million Brits per year at risk of disappearing

Scottish Sun

23-07-2025

Plus, the UK beach that is experiencing the fastest coastal erosion in the world
SANDS BAD Beaches at holiday hotspot visited by 7.9 million Brits per year at risk of disappearing
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BEACHES in the popular Spanish city of Barcelona are at risk of disappearing.
The swathes of sand are actually man-made, created some 30 years ago when the city hosted the 1992 Olympic Games, but they are now eroding at a faster rate than ever before.
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The beaches at Barcelona are eroding quickly
Credit: Alamy
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The man-made beaches are affected by storms, climate change and climbing sea levels
Credit: Alamy
Around 7.9 million British tourists visited Barcelona in 2024 to explore the city and bask on its beautiful beaches.
But severe winter storms and rising sea levels have seen heavy coastal erosion and there are now fears these man-made beaches are receding at such a rate that they could go back to their original gravel strips.
In February 2025, the Metropolitan Area of ​​Barcelona (AMB) warned that the beaches north of Barcelona have lost about 30,100 square meters of sand in the last five years, according to Catalan News.
One of the worst cases is Montgat, a 30minute drive up the coast from Barcelona, which has lost 70 per cent of its beach surface in four years.
After major storms last year, parts of Montgat were left almost without a beach completely.
Lines of rocks were then installed to serve as a breakwater, but there are fears this still won't be enough to protect the beach.
One local, Ana García, told The Independent: 'Clearly, this is worrying because it's increasing more and more, and shows no signs of stopping. Our coexistence with the sea here is in danger.'
One reason for the faster erosion rate is that the beaches are man-made rather than natural.
Before their creation, the shoreline along Barcelona was gravelly, rocky and not very accessible.
For the Olympics in 1992, city authorities used thousands of tonnes of sand to expand its beach front because it thought sandy beaches would appeal to tourists - and they would be proven right.
The little-known Spanish beach town that's easy to get to
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The beaches look completely different now as they used to be gravel rather than sand
Credit: Alamy
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The region of Catalonia is prone to damaging storms
Credit: Alamy
The beaches are thought to bring in around £52million each year in tourist income.
Over the last 20 years, the rate of erosion along the east coast of Spain has done nothing but speed up.
In an effort to maintain the coastline, the beaches have been topped up with fresh sand every spring imported from other areas.
But due to the rate of erosion, enhancing beaches by replacing the sand in this way is not having a long-term impact.
It is completely possible that without major intervention, the beaches in Barcelona and beyond could disappear.
Solutions proposed include creating sand dunes to protect the precious beaches.
But it's not just Spain that is facing a beach erosion crisis, it's happening right here in the UK.
The Holderness Coast, where the Barmston Beach sits, is the fastest eroding coastline in Europe.
Last year, the East Yorkshire coastline suffered up to 12 meters of coastal erosion which is a much higher rate than elsewhere in the world.
Between Barmston and Fraisthorpe, erosion reached up to five meters in some parts of the coast last year. Barmston Beach has been directly affected and has lost its Blue Flag status because of impact of coastal erosion.
Here are the world's 50 best beaches and where to find the two in England that made the cut.
And one of England's oldest seaside towns that's at risk of losing its beach forever.