The Delta Del Llobregat
The area that is now Barcelona was inhabited by the Iberians, who named it Barkeno. It was the Romans who established the city that is now Barcelona. In doing so they established a city between two rivers, thereby ensuring a good source of fresh water and the means to flush the city clean. To the northish (direction France) you have the Basòs River. To the southsortof, (direction not France) you have the Rio Llobregat. This river's delta was to be the weekend excursion. It has been my good fortune to have Marta as a tour guide, showing me the places in and around Barcelona that are not in the tourists guides. This little sanctuary of nature just outside of the city and next to the El Prat International Airport serves as a reminder that if man tries to provide a habitat for wildlife; within his surroundings, that nature will adapt much more readily to modern man than vice versa.
The village of El Prat is on the other side of the river and home to airport named after the village that
endures the constant sound of airplanes. Marta told me that when she was a child her family, like many others; they would go out to the airport, sit in the huge outside terrace and just watch the planes and people. Those where the days when air travel was new, exciting and glamours. Now it's far from glamours. People once dressed up to go on an airplane. Almost as if they were going out for a formal night. Now you dress down to the point of shorts, T-shits and flip flops , so you can get through security. The hand luggage that once bore proudly the names of famous airlines no longer exist just as those airlines no longer exist. No, the idea of taking the family out to the airport to watch airplanes and glamours people is long gone.
Like most rivers that flow through metropolitan areas, the banks of the Llobregat became the location for industry, which has always thrived where it could use a river for energy or as a sewer. The most famous of these adaptations by man from
natural river to polluted sewer Is the Cuyahoga River, in Ohio. Most people in the States have heard how it caught fire once and helped to spur the clean water act of the 1970's. What is not known, is the the river caught fire no less than 13 times.
I doubt the Llobregat reached that level of pollution, but I'm sure it's history has gone from pristine river to polluted industrial sewer to reclaimed waterway. I got to see it in this latter phase of its long life. Another element that touched this river and the area it encompassed were the shanty towns that grew up along it in response to the industries and to the ever increasing land prices in Barcelona. Like the pollution, the negativity of the shanty towns
reached a tipping point and the occupants were relocated to safe and sanitary developments, so that the reclamation of the river could be complete. I'm glad I missed its midlife crisis. The river and its delta area have been reclaimed as much as possible and set aside for wildlife to return and for people to enjoy.
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| Looking upstream |
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| Looking out to Mediterranean |
The day started out warm and sunny, which lulled us into shedding our heavy coats in favor of lighter spring jackets. We were forced to return to the car and walk in a different direction by a locked gate, baring us from the rivers outlet to the Mediterranean. Normally this route is open, but a construction project had closed it. As long as we were back to the car, we left our heavy coats and went to the other half of the delta. This was a very pleasant walk, but it too bared us from the beach. That area was closed due to it being the beginning of the nesting season. We climbed an observation tower and took in the surroundings as the clouds moved in and made it clear that we should have brought those heavy coats with us.
On the way back to the car we stopped at a bird watching blind and watched a pond area that was home to
a number of very interesting and active waterfowl. The chill finely sent us on our way. Perhaps the chill was why those birds were so active. We passed a grove of Mediterranean Pines that had been undisturbed for many years, allowing you to have a glimpse of how the high crown forests of these pines must have looked many years ago. Given the dropping temperature of the day, it was easy to see how these great forests were cut down for heating, as well as other things.
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| The El Prat Beach, near the airport |
Back to the car, just as the gates were closing and we were on our way. Having been twice denied access to the beach, we elected to go out to the beach area of El Prat. This is a large and undeveloped area that is generally overlooked by beach goers, in favor of more popular areas. I thought it had a beautifully rustic and natural feel, making it much more appealing to me than the developed beach areas. If beach going were something I did more, I would consider the drive out to El Prat, well worth the trip. Now it was not only cold, it was dark. Time to call it a day and the end of another weekend outing, off the tourist map.
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