Barcelona Blue Routes
The Barcelona Blue Routes (BBRs) are a set of paths that trace the banks of the Llobregat, Cardener and Anoia rivers as they pass through the province of Barcelona, so that they can be used by the general public on a continual, unmonitored bases, and respecting biodiversity.
- ROUTE UNDER CONSTRUCTION -
In general, the municipalities and counties on the coast have had greater tourism and economic development. The province of Barcelona is no exception: tourist activity is centred around the capital and the sea tends to be more in demand.
For their part, the inland counties specialise in alternative tourist activities such as rural tourism, wine tourism, agrotourism or ecotourism, among others. Most of these initiatives are the result of local entrepreneurship and do not tend to generate a large offering or attract large investments.
With the intention of reducing this gap between conventional tourism and inland tourism, the Barcelona Provincial Council wants to boost tourism in these counties under the slogan "Barcelona is much more", which faces the challenge of setting up new tourist products inland, based on natural, cultural and heritage resources, in order to increase demand for active but also sustainable, responsible and respectful tourism.
Following these guidelines, in 2015 it was decided to launch the Barcelona Blue Routes project, consisting of creating an infrastructure along the river banks in order to deploy the endogenous potential of the municipalities close to the Llobregat, Cardener and Anoia rivers. With the Llobregat river park as a major feature, the Blue Routes will be a great opportunity for the counties in the region.
The first step of the project was to commission a study of the route, on foot and by bicycle, between the source of the Llobregat and its mouth, to explore the virtues of a new tourist resource. Subsequently, the drafting of the Urban Planning Master Plan for the Blue Routes was commissioned. This urban planning instrument approved in July 2020 established the precepts and determinations necessary for its execution to take place with maximum integration and coherence with the existing environmental and scenic values.
The Barcelona Blue Routes project comes within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), number 3 "Health and wellness”, number 8 “Decent work and economic growth" and number 9 "Industry, innovation and infrastructures".
And in particular, the specific objectives are:
1. To ensure the appropriate urban and environmental implementation of the Urban Planning Master Plan of the Barcelona Blue Routes.
2. To foster the improvement in the conservation of the cultural and natural heritage of the 121 municipalities in the province of Barcelona located within the territorial scope of the routes and surrounding areas.
3. Improve universal access to safe, green, inclusive and sustainable public spaces, recovering and rehabilitating 40% of the projected route.
- Urban Planning Master Plan of the Blue Routes
- Visor SITMUN PDU VBB (Click the section "Barcelona Blue Routes")
- Autonomous Region Urban Plan of the Anoia River
- Construction and urban planning project of the Anoia Blue Route Phase 1
The Barcelona Blue Routes will recover and enhance the natural and cultural heritage of the most important river system in the province of Barcelona thanks to the creation and adaptation of passable itineraries for walkers and cyclists along the Llobregat, Anoia and Cardener rivers.
During the implementation of the project, actions will be carried out along more than 250 km of paths to improve the route, bring it closer to the river and recover historical paths and elements of the local heritage and landscape, so that municipalities that have lived with their backs to the river may enjoy it once again.
The paths will have a standard width of three meters and a gentle gradient, with sections adapted for wheelchairs and separate lanes for pedestrians and cyclists, ideal for healthy activities, sports, environmental education and leisure. They will also include active security systems, signage, information and environmental education.
The routes will extend through the river system that includes the courses of 3 rivers, cover 59 municipalities in 7 counties (Alt Penedès, Anoia, Bages, Baix Llobregat, Berguedà, Solsonès and Vallès Occidental) and pass through 3 natural parks, 13 protected natural areas and 8 tourist areas. It will be accessible to more than 5 million people. Links will be established with adjacent municipalities in order to improve daily mobility between them, installing dissuasive barriers to motor vehicles.
Together with the restoration and beautification of the natural habitats, the history of the Llobregat, Anoia and Cardener rivers will be recovered to turn them into a valuable scenic, natural, cultural and heritage resource for the promotion of tourism and economic revitalisation of the interior of the province.
The overall investment is estimated at €54 M. In December 2021, the Barcelona Blue Routes project received €4.5 M for the execution of the first phase of the Anoia Blue Route, within the extraordinary call of the Sustainable Tourist Destination Plans (PSTD in its Catalan initials) for local agencies financed with the EU Next Generation Funds, through the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan "España Puede" of the Spanish Government.
The Barcelona Blue Routes project aims not only to recover and enhance the heritage along the courses of the three rivers, but also to promote their conservation, reduce seasonalisation, seek other options to the sun-and-sand destinations and promote rural regions.
The future purpose of the overall Barcelona Blue Ways project is to contribute to the creation of a cycle tourism network in Catalonia that will connect to other long-distance cycle tourism routes, such as the Eurovelo 8 route, the InterCatalunya route, the Girona and Tarragona Greenways, and the Pirinexus route.
Environmental monitoring reports of the Urban Planning Master Plan (PDU) of the Blue Route prepared by the Barcelona Provincial Council:
You can also view this and other documents related to the environmental assessment of this Plan at Environmental Assessment Portal of the Government of Catalonia.
Barcelona Blue Routes
Edifici del Rellotge, 4th plant
Comte d'Urgell, 187, 08036 Barcelona
Tel. 934 720 721