Pau Esteban was trying to explain the dangers faced by one of Europe’s biggest protected wetlands from the expansion of Barcelona’s airport when the roar of jet engines drowned him out. It perfectly summed up the battle which is raging between private ambitions to expand the city’s airport and public anger at how this may destroy a sanctuary for flora and fauna protected by the European Commission. Who will win may depend as much by decisions taken in Brussels as among politicians and locals in the Spanish city. The dilemma between private and public is one of the debates at the centre of Mani…