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El Prat will transform 51,000 m² into nature after demolishing old infrastructure
El Prat Airport will remove old car parks and unused areas. More than 51,000 m² will be added to the Llobregat Delta. The project does not require an ordinary environmental assessment. Find out how the natural setting will change.
El Prat Airport will remove old car parks and unused areas. More than 51,000 m² will be added to the Llobregat Delta. The project does not require an ordinary environmental assessment. Discover how the natural surroundings will change.
El Prat Airport in Barcelona is beginning an ecological transformation: it will demolish the former bus car park and the old taxi rank at Terminal 1 to return 51,000 square metres to the natural environment of the Llobregat Delta. This action, published in the BOE this Friday, responds to pending compensation for the expansion more than 15 years ago and is not linked to future runway-expansion works.
The airport site lies within the arc of wetlands and protected spaces of the delta, under the protection of the Natura 2000 Network. Discussions on runway expansion ruled out affecting areas such as the Remolar lagoon and Filipinas marsh, emblematic areas of the delta. The intervention now focuses precisely on recovering part of these spaces.
The Ministry for Ecological Transition has decided that the renaturalisation project will not need an ordinary environmental-impact assessment, after determining that no significant adverse effects are expected. The area to be restored is included in the Natura 2000 Network and is a Special Protection Area for Birds (SPA).
Aena plans to demolish several unused infrastructures: the bus car park (12,000 m²), the former taxi rank (24,000 m²), a base for approach signals (4,785 m²) and other roadways totalling more than 22,000 m². The entire project will be carried out in the municipality of Viladecans.
Alongside the renaturalisation, an unpaved 100-space, 3,500 m² car park will be built for visitors to Remolar and Filipinas marsh. The BOE states that public bodies and environmental organisations were consulted, and that surveys ruled out impacts on protected flora and fauna.
Technical reports warn of possible disturbance to wildlife from noise and machinery during the works, but recommend avoiding birds’ breeding period and immediately restoring affected areas. The Generalitat concludes that the intervention will improve the conservation of the delta.
The BOE does not set a specific timetable, but estimates that the project will need one year to complete.