The chimney stacks of the Sant Adrià de Besòs power plant are hard to miss. Any sunbather lolling away a lazy Sunday afternoon on one of the beaches stretching northwards from Barceloneta will inevitably have the three bronzed spires looming over his or her shoulder, casting their silhouettes across the sand like some gigantic sun dial counting off the weekend’s dwindling hours.

The upper reaches of the Fecsa-Endesa central tèrmica have formed a part of the greater Barcelona skyline since the plant’s construction in 1970. During that time, the chimneys’ 200 meters have dwarfed almost all of the other major peaks of the city’s panorama: the psychedelic laser show of the Torre Agbar peters out at 142 meters; the Torre Mapfre, the city’s tallest skyscraper, tops out at a mere 157; and the Sagrada Familia, when completed, will still come 30 meters short of matching las Tres Chimeneas.

But it’s not just their height that calls special attention to the chimneys — they also have an undeniable, if yet strange, aesthetic attraction. For those who find the Ciudad Condal just too pretty and need a little post-industrial wasteland to clean the pallet so as to truly continue savoring the steady dose of art deco, there is no better place to go.

Venturing through the warehouses to the stretch of beach running north from the mouth of the Besòs river, one discovers a labyrinth of enormous rusted pipes and graffiti-ridden buildings in various states of abandon and disrepair. But what would appear to be the last place on earth anyone would swim, fish, or take in some rays is actually clamoring with an assortment of odd characters who willingly choose this spot over the kilometers of comparatively pristine coastline just a stone’s throw away to enjoy some sun and surf (along with god knows what else) among the debris.

Just north of the plant there used to be beach called “Chernobil”, which was the first nudist beach in the city before it was turned into the present-day Badalona marina. It seems that the old name left its mark on the area since, coincidence or not, a small group of sunbathers camped out right in front of the power plant happen to be from the former USSR.

But the chimneys are not only loved by nudists, nostalgic Soviets and those who happen to like the taste of the fish proceeding from these churning waters.

Last year the question of whether to demolish or maintain the chimneys arose when Fecsa-Endesa announced that it would be closing the plant for good come 2010. In November, 2008, the city of Sant Adrià de Besòs organized a referendum on the future of the chimneys, and an overwhelming majority of 82% voted to preserve what they considered to be an emblematic part of their community and designate it for future social use.

It still remains to be seen what will finally become of the plant since the referendum was non-binding and, more importantly, it is the property of the power company. Currently, the plant’s use is almost testimonial. Only two of the chimneys run for a grand total of four weeks a year, corresponding with peak demand periods. Very soon, this token production will come to an end when Fecsa-Endesa pulls the plug for good. Then the real future of the chimneys, and one of the most unique nooks of Barcelona, will have to be decided.