Catalan campsite federation re-elects Miquel Gotanegra
Miquel Gotanegra will lead the Federació Catalana de Càmpings (FCC), the Catalan Federation of Campsites, for another term. This is his fourth consecutive term as head of the organisation.
Gotanegra also chairs the Associació de Càmpings de Girona, the association representing campsites in the province of Girona. Members re-elected him at the federation's General Assembly in s'Agaró. His was the only candidacy, and every member present at the meeting backed it.
A decade at the helm
Gotanegra has been president of the federation since October 2014. His new mandate therefore takes his leadership well past ten years.
He has said that his priorities are to keep defending the interests of the campsite sector and to strengthen the links between the five territorial associations that make up the FCC. Each of these associations represents campsites in a different part of Catalonia, and the federation brings them together under one umbrella.
In his speech to the assembly, Gotanegra stressed that the sector must stay united. "The Catalan campsite project belongs to all of us," he told members.
Climate change tops the agenda
The federation has named adaptation to climate change as one of its main challenges for the next four years.
The FCC plans to work with public administrations to study how climate change is affecting campsites. The aim is to identify what campsites need and to push for measures that both adapt to the changes and reduce their impact.
The federation also wants to extend this cooperation beyond Catalonia. It plans to involve other Mediterranean organisations and European bodies facing similar climate challenges. Its stated goal is to make Catalonia a European reference point in this field.
The sector in numbers
The FCC groups 236 campsites. Together they account for 83.5% of all campsite places in Catalonia.
Across Catalonia as a whole there are 353 campsites, offering more than 260,000 accommodation places. The sector records around 22 million overnight stays a year. Its estimated economic impact is almost 2.5 billion euros.
These figures make campsites a significant part of the Catalan tourism economy. On the Costa Brava and in the Alt Empordà, campsites are a familiar sight along the coast and near the Bay of Roses, and they draw many visitors from across Europe each summer.
The new board
Gotanegra will work with a new board of directors. Its members are:
- Joan Estrada, first vice-president
- Albert Casas, second vice-president and treasurer
- Cel Feliu, third vice-president and secretary
- Josep Sans, fourth vice-president
Why It Matters
For readers in Empuriabrava and Castelló d'Empúries, this is more than an internal vote in a trade body. Campsites are one of the pillars of summer tourism in the area. They bring families, touring cyclists and motorhome travellers from France, Germany, the Netherlands and further afield. A strong Girona voice at the head of the Catalan federation suggests that the concerns of coastal campsites in this part of Catalonia are likely to stay near the top of the sector's agenda.
The unanimous vote and the lack of any rival candidacy point to a sector that, at least publicly, is closing ranks. That matters at a time when tourism businesses across the region face pressure on several fronts. Girona's tourism sector has recently flagged problems ranging from AP-7 congestion and staff absenteeism, while other forms of holiday accommodation are going through their own regulatory battles, as shown by the local councils that pushed back against the tourist flat decree. Gotanegra's call for unity reads partly as a response to this wider climate.
The focus on climate change is the most notable part of the new mandate. Campsites are often located close to beaches, rivers and wooded areas, which may make them more exposed than hotels to the effects of a changing climate. The federation has not yet set out specific measures, so it is too early to say what adaptation will mean in practice. Elsewhere in the Alt Empordà, landowners and farmers are already testing their own approaches, such as the vineyard mosaic near Roses that acts as a firebreak.
It is worth watching whether the federation's talks with public administrations lead to concrete plans or funding, and whether campsites on this stretch of coast are among the first to take part. The ambition to make Catalonia a European reference point is a bold one. How quickly the federation turns that goal into visible action will be a useful test of Gotanegra's fourth term.