New Factsheet on Safeguarding Barcelona Urban Beaches through citizen engagement in Spain

This publication examines the environmental pressures facing Barcelona’s urban coastline, shaped by tourism, urban development, waste accumulation, and biodiversity loss.

The case study outlines how these factors affect the resilience and ecological quality of the city’s beaches, highlighting issues such as:

• Declines in marine biodiversity linked to human activity.

• High concentrations of cigarette butts and wet wipes impacting coastal and marine ecosystems.

• Increased stress on beach habitats despite ongoing renaturalisation efforts.

The factsheet presents an integrated overview of these challenges and showcases how citizen-generated data—collected through tools such as MINKA—supports monitoring, governance, and stronger environmental compliance along Barcelona’s coastline.