Moises Tibau clambered aboard his small wooden boat at dawn and pushed off from a craggy outcropping in front of the house where Dal composed some of his most famous paintings.
One of the two remaining fishermen in this speck of a Mediterranean town was hoping for a haul of lobster, langoustine and scorpionfish. Mr. Tibau was focused on the threat of modernization as he drove into the bay.
Government officials are expected to approve the construction of a huge floating wind farm just offshore, and international energy companies are already jockeying to harness the volatile northerly winds in the area.
The push comes as a deadly summer heat wave made worse by climate change is threatening to break temperature records in England and other European countries.
Catalonia, a part of Spain that is still highly dependent on fossil fuels, is in dire need of renewable energy and could soon be supplied by dozens of turbines.
Sign up for the Climate Forward newsletter, for Times subscribers only. Your must-read guide to the climate crisis.The project on the Spanish coast is illustrative of a push and pull taking place throughout Europe as officials rush to reduce planet-warming emissions by phasing out fossil fuels and rapidly building utility scale renewable energy projects. Europe is trying to break free from their dependence on Russian oil and gas as a result of the war in Ukraine.
From the coast of Spain to the rivers of Albania, efforts to deploy large wind, solar and hydroelectricity projects are running into obstacles.
Europe has thousands of years of cultural history and artifacts to contend with, so it can be difficult to find large wind and solar projects that can fit in there.
The rush to harness la Tramontana has become the latest flash point in the debate over where to locate new renewable energy projects. The residents of this sleepy corner of Spain say the offshore wind farm would ruin the views of masterpieces such as "The Persistence of Memory" and place enormous machinery perilously close to one of Europe's largest marine preserves.
The man who has been working the waters for decades is opposed to the project. The culture of Cadaqués inspired Dal.
Around the world, similar stories are being played out. In northern France, scallop fishermen last year fired flares and blocked a boat that was working to install one of the country's first offshore wind farms, and in Sweden there is opposition to a plan to build wind farms in a pristine area of wilderness.
A wild animal. The report warned that humans must make dramatic changes to hunting and other practices. Billions of people rely on 50,000 wild species for everything from food to medicine.
The E.U. votes. The European Parliament voted to allow gas and nuclear energy projects to get hundreds of billions of euro in loans and subsidies. The move will prolong the region's dependence on fossil fuels.
In Europe, the heat is high. According to a new study, Western Europe has become a heat wave hot spot over the last four decades, with events increasing in intensity and Frequency. Europe is heating up more quickly than other hot spots, according to the study.
In Italy, a complicated permitting process is making it difficult for companies to build wind projects where they have already been approved.
Residents oppose plans for a huge solar plant in Andalusia that they say would disrupt an archaeologically sensitive site. The Albanian government agreed not to put dams on the Vjosa River in order to get hydropower.
People don't want a wind farm next to them despite the overwhelming consensus that change is needed. The fear of the unknown is one of the reasons why the NIMBYism is still there.
Most Europeans support efforts to increase renewable energy.
Josep Lloret is a prominent marine biologist who teaches at the University of Girona. Climate change needs solutions.
Mr. Lloret soured on the project as he began to look at the effects on the environment.
The European Union recently designated the area a marine preserve and there is a bird sanctuary on the coast. It is a hot spot of flora and fauna.
Scientists are worried about the wind farm. Two marine biologists working for the Spanish government rehabilitate a type of coral that is often caught in fishing nets in a corner of a fish market
Ms. Baena said that they are similar to trees in the forest. All of the species associated with them will disappear if they disappear.
Commercial fishermen fear that the wind project will push valuable red shrimp further out to sea.
With the cost to fish already high, the wind farm could make what is an already tenuous livelihood unsustainable.
He said that they are trapped because of the price increases of petrol, electricity and gas.
The marine Biologist said that you need to sacrifice some parts of the sea. You need to find the places where you won't hurt anyone.
According to the companies hoping to build the wind farms, their projects won't have a big impact on the environment.
Carlos Martin is the CEO of BlueFloat Energy, a Spanish company that plans to bid on the project later this year.
BlueFloat's project would involve 35 turbines, each one 856 feet above the water, and produce 500 megawatts of energy, enough to power about half of the energy demand for the local province. Some of the companies are preparing bids that involve more than one turbine. The location off Port Lligat is said to be the best in the region for offshore wind due to the strong Tramontana winds.
The long-term effects of wind turbine floating will be reduced, according to Mr. Martin. He said that building new sources of clean energy was more important than the impact on the environment.
Mr. Martin said that change can be seen as a threat. The opportunity here is amazing.
As the war in Ukraine drags on, European leaders have pledged to speed up the roll out of new renewable energy projects.
The European Union consumed more renewable energy in 2020 than it did in the US. The European Commission wants to double the use of renewable energy by the year 2030.
With the war pushing up energy prices, European leaders are starting to set aside climate goals and focus on reducing energy costs.
Even though governments are racing to greenlight new projects, there is already a major gap between what has been approved and what is under construction. According to Energy Monitor, governments approve four times as much wind power as is actually being built.
According to the energy analyst, people don't like coal and oil and gas, but they don't want any other options It will be very difficult to find a solution to the government policies area.
A rocky peninsula that inspired artists including Picasso and Man Ray was passed by Mr. Tibau as he headed out to check the nets he had set. The setting for the Kirk Douglas film "The Light at the Edge of the World" was a lighthouse.
He brought his boat to a halt after arriving at his buoy.
Mr. Tibau tossed back protected sea cucumbers and smaller crustaceans. He caught one large lobster, one scorpion fish, and a dozen langoustine after a half hour of work.
Chefs from nearby restaurants would come by the shaded spot where Mr. Tibau mends his nets and buy the morning's catch.
A previous generation of fishermen taught Mr. Tibau how to work this small patch of sea in the 50s.
Mr. Tibau said that Dal would be able to stop the project if he were still alive today.
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