Fears for flamingos due to expansion of Barcelona airport

The Delta de Llobregat, a natural park protected by the European Commission, is under threat due to plans to expand the nearby Barcelona airport.

According to conservationists, the Delta de Llobregat, a natural park protected by the European Commission, is under threat due to plans to expand the nearby Barcelona airport, which was built in the wetlands after the 1992 Olympics.

The €1.7bn (£1.44bn) deal was signed last week by the Spanish and Catalan authorities, with plans to expand the airport which is a gateway for tourists from the UK to Barcelona and the Costa Brava.

The plans are controversial, as they may contradict a law that was passed by the left-wing government in Spain this year to cut emissions by 23 per cent by the year 2030.

The left-wing mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau called the plan a “big lie” that only had benefits for speculators.

The pink flamingos in the wetlands join other birds like little grebes and Eurasian scops owls, as well as 23 types of orchids, 1,000 types of plants and a colony of turtles.

An earlier expansion of the airport caused a loss of habitat for bird species, conservation groups claim.

“When you sit here in peace and then you suddenly hear a plane taking off, it is like the noise of a Formula One car,” said Jose Garcia, of Depana, a local conservation group that opposes the plan.

“At a time when we are trying to cut down emissions, this makes no sense.”

Brussels will have the final say over the expansion of the airport and they have already warned the Catalan and Spanish governments not to go ahead, according to i.

“Despite one of the most densely populated regions of the Iberian peninsula, the fragile ecosystems of the Delta de Llobregat hosts outstanding biodiversity and plays a crucial role in the migratory routes of many European bird species,” the EC said in May.

Despite this, Raquel Sanchez, the Spanish transport minister and former mayor of Gava, a town near the airport, said the expansion would bring 83,000 new jobs and a new protected area for wildlife would be created.

“If we do things right, the expansion of the airport will entail more protected areas in the Delta and a more robust protection since it will facilitate a connection between natural spaces that is currently difficult,” she wrote in an article for El Periodico.

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