The City Council of Sant Adrià de Besòs has submitted allegations to the Metropolitan Urban Master Plan that has been drawn up by the Metropolitan Area of ??Barcelona. In them they show their disagreement with the consolidation of potentially polluting activities such as the Tersa waste incinerator plant or the combined cycle thermal power plant.

The allegations refer to the cessation of activity and the dismantling of the incinerator. According to the Councilor for Territory of the City Council, Jose Gras, Tersa’s activity “is in urban disagreement” since in 1971 its installation was provisionally approved, as it continues, “with administrative silence and a negative report from the municipal architect.”

“It is incoherent to maintain these uses with the landscape, environmental, urban and social criteria,” says the councilor, who has set the metropolitan government precisely in the area where the next urban expansion of Sant Adrià is planned.

The urban planning classification of the Tersa site, owned by the AMB, “is number seven, for equipment” so the consolidation of the incinerator would present serious doubts due to an alleged non-compliance with metropolitan urban planning regulations.

Regarding the metropolitan solidarity that the AMB advocates, from Sant Adrià they remember that “we have been burning all the metropolitan garbage for 50 years” something unusual in a town of barely four square kilometers. Hence, the city council advocates “rethinking waste management” in the metropolis. In this sense, they are committed to moving the incinerator from the coast. In this sense, they recall the existence of several studies promoted by Barcelona Regional. Aware that no municipality would be willing to take on this type of infrastructure, Sant Adrià understands that “the only possible location would be the Free Trade Zone,” a space where the impact on the urban core would be less.

The consolidation of the incinerator in the PDUM, in the opinion of the municipality of Besòs, is inconsistent with the project of the boost that is intended to be given to the metropolitan avenues, the Tres Xemeneies urban complex, the hotels or the Port Fòrum itself. Maintaining the incinerator in its current location would mean “being less than 500 meters from schools, health facilities and new homes,” which is why they reaffirm that “it makes no sense to consolidate this infrastructure.”

Sant Adrià de Besòs is immersed in a transformation process that contemplates growth to 50,000 inhabitants within a period of 10 years. “80% of the city’s growth is seen in the Tersa plant area.”

The Sant Adrià City Council hopes that the AMB will address its allegations and, if they are rejected, they will take the appropriate measures. In this sense, Jose Gras admits that “we do not want, between administrations, to resort to judicial means and even less so with the Metropolitan Area” but they do not rule it out to defend their interests. “From AMB, the administration of which we are a part, we hope for your understanding and collaboration,” they point out. Another alternative proposed by the urban planner, if the allegations are not admitted, would be “by voting against the provisional approval.” From Sant Adrià de Besòs they conclude that “it is good to be the sewer of the metropolitan area and especially of Barcelona.”