Did you know that the Pont del Petroli in Badalona has been listed as one of the “seven wonders” of Catalonia?
This was the opinion of the photography contest “Les set meravelles de Catalunya” organized by Mundo Deportivo and Rac1, where an image of the Badalona infrastructure was chosen as the winner.
The award-winning image was captured by Andrés Murillo. It shows the bridge at dawn, in complete calm and with an incomparable illumination.
Pont del Petroli de Badalona competed with 12 thousand photographs.
More than 12,000 photographers participated in the contest where the image of the Pont del Petroli was chosen among the seven most beautiful locations in Catalonia.
The different categories of the contest were: nature, monument, urban, history, eco, gastronomy and tradition.
And you may wonder what the other six wonders of Catalonia are in the other categories. Well, you should know that, they are the following:
- Nature: Hermitage of La Pertusa
- Monument: Montgrí Castle
- Echo: Delta de l’Ebre
- History: Besalú
- Tradition: Devils
- Gastronomy: Romesco sauce and calçots (spring onions)
Some history of El Puente del Petróleo
It was an old installation for the unloading of hydrocarbons on the Badalona beach. It was an oil dock that after its operation ended, favored the creation of an underwater ecosystem, in particular a colony of seahorses unique in the Catalan coast.
After being abandoned and ceasing to operate as an unloading point, the Petroleum Bridge ceased to be an area of fuel leaks and illegal laundries, and became a beautiful and diverse ecosystem that settled under its pillars.
New life quickly colonized the timbers, cement bases and detached headlands, attracting beautiful species and becoming the main diving area in Badalona.
Hundreds of divers, now without boats or facilities, began to gather in this beautiful place to enjoy the underwater beauties that began to live there.
After being remodeled, Badalona has a pylon structure about 250 meters long, of which 210 meters are the part that goes into the sea.
In this sense, it is worth mentioning that this is a strategic place to see the beautiful panoramic views of the city from the Mediterranean.
On the other hand, by 2001 the bridge was at risk of being dismantled. However, a group of photographers, divers and friends of the Petroleum Bridge, demonstrated in the street to save the railway structure so representative of the area.
In this way, they managed to protect the wooden and iron pontoon, but mainly the underwater life that had already established itself on the bridge piers.
In addition, they were able to get the local authorities to commit themselves to habilitate the bridge as a promenade leading out to sea. It was then opened to the public on June 13, 2009 after being remodeled.
