Barcelona’s Tourism Board Celebrates World Environment Day

World Environment Day on the 5th of June became a special event in Barcelona, as the main tourism board, Turisme de Barcelona, held an event to promote sustainable tourism. In the city’s main information office in Plaça Catalunya, visitors could find suggestions and recommendations for enjoying the city in a sustainable manner. They also received information about the EMAS and EU Ecolabel tourism organisations.

Barcelona organisations work to protect the environment day after day in numerous sectors, ranging from public transport to gastronomy. The Slow Food movement and the farm-to-table km 0 project both promote healthier and more sustainable ways of farming and eating. The city is also aiming to be the world’s electric vehicle capital and promotes non-polluting public transport. It has even worked to provide additional space for pedestrians and cyclists. Barcelona was the first Spanish regional capital to introduce special speed limits on access routes to the city and is one of the few large urban areas to achieve the maximum reduction in water use.

World environment day was an excellent opportunity for educating tourists and visitors on reducing their environmental impact through careful choices. Barcelona is exemplary because it was the first city in the world to be awarded Biosphere certification, recognizing the city as a sustainable tourism destination.

Barcelona has 40 EMAS registered organizations (including museums, theatres, touristic accommodations and language schools), one tourism accommodation with the EU Ecolabel and four with the Catalan ecolabel.

Going beyond the 5th of June, Turisme de Barcelona reinforces its commitment to the promotion of sustainable tourism in the city with the programme Barcelona Sustainable Tourism. This program encourages the participation of enterprises that are working to ensure environmental, cultural and socio-economic sustainability. This is particularly important because Barcelona is one of the top 10 destinations cities for international overnight visitors. This year, Barcelona reached the figure of 7.5 million tourists in hotels for the very first time.

Experience Barcelona in an environmentally friendly way!
Visit: www.barcelonaturisme.com/sustainable.

Font: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/emas/news/index_en.htm#198