He’s back. The urban acrobatic climber known as the French Spiderman, for his daring ascents, reached another milestone this Friday by climbing the fourth tallest building in Barcelona at 166 meters to try to raise awareness about climate change and drought in the Iberian Peninsula.
Spain is facing a persistent drought and parts of southern France and Italy are experiencing unusually hot conditions that scientists say have been exacerbated by global warming.
Behind the mask hides Alain Robert (60 years old), who yesterday climbed the Melià Barcelona Sky Hotel -a structure covered in glass and steel- with only a bag of powdered plaster and climbing shoes.
“I would like to convey a message about climate change and the problem of soil desertification in Spain and southern Europe,” various agencies collected. “I hope governments get to work to remedy it soon,” she said after arriving on the roof.
The climb was not authorized and the Mossos d’Esquadra ended up stopping him shortly after reaching the finish line. According to reports 3/24, after identifying him, they released him.
Before the ascent, Robert told Reuters that the structure was “quite complex”, and joked that he himself would suffer the effects of climate change due to the heat that plagues these spring days in Barcelona. According to the Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya (Meteocat), 23.8ºC was reached yesterday.
Robert still had time to joke with the media about the current situation in his country. “I’m getting old, I’m almost 61, which is interesting because I guess most people in the world have heard of the pension reforms in France… You know, our government wants people to work longer. “
Along with the Barcelona Bombers, dozens of onlookers gradually crowded around the hotel to observe Spiderman, even if it was craning his neck and with his hands open like an umbrella over his eyes. It didn’t take long, in half an hour -approximately- the feat was completed.
Alain Robert started climbing in 1975 on the cliffs of Valence, his hometown. Two years later, he began to specialize in “high risk” free climbing, as he defines it: “alone and without the aid of ropes or harnesses.” Since then, he has scaled more than 150 buildings around the world, including Dubai’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa; the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Golden Gate in San Francisco.
The last time the French Spiderman visited Barcelona was in October 2022. He climbed the Glòries tower with his son and explained that he was scared, according to the news portal 3/24.
