The Demolition

The Coastal Law passed by the Spanish Parliament in 1988 had been relentless. Determined to return to the citizenship the kilometers of beach that the insatiable real estate sector had deployed on the coast. There had not been a single summer in which the Administration had not announced its intention to demolish any beach facility that did not comply with its regulations.

The mobilization of the owners of the premises and of the neighbors of the neighborhood and other citizens who defend the picnic areas as a typical and endearing thing to be saved, did not prevent the entrance of the MOPU pickaxe to culminate the demolition in May 1992.

Mrs. Maria Lluïsa “Mari” of the then merendero Costa Azul remembers how she stood in front of the bulldozer and confronted the director of the police known as “El Lobo” who tried to push her away. 

The owners of the popular premises did not receive any of the compensation they had been promised, hundreds of employees lost their jobs overnight and the economy of the neighborhood, especially the market and the stores that supplied the picnic areas, suffered. An economic and emotional ruin. 

With the excuse of opening this brand new Olympic Barcelona in the sea, once again, part of our history was demolished.