El Molino will close in July and does not expect to reopen until September 2027, after the City Council has confirmed a soundproofing intervention in this historic space on Paral·lel. The halt comes after Barcelona Events Musicals' resignation from continuing at the helm of management from July 1.
The Councilor for Culture, Xavier Marcé, has specified the schedule for the closure and future reopening and has linked both decisions to neighborhood complaints about noise registered in the area. The soundproofing works will begin in September and, in principle, will last between eight and nine months.
"A series of neighborhood complaints have arisen due to noise pollution and, as owners, we have to carry out a remodeling of the space" - Xavier Marcé, Councilor for Culture
A summer closure and a reopening two years later
The municipal forecast places the effective closure in July. From then on, El Molino will be out of service while the new stage of the facility is processed. The blades of the emblematic building will remain stopped for about 14 months and will start spinning again, if the announced deadlines are met, in September 2027.
The City Council maintains that the closure and works respond to the need to adapt the premises by the end of this summer. In December, concerts had already had to be suspended due to various neighbor complaints related to noise. That limitation had already had an impact on the ordinary activity of the venue.
No agreement with the current management company
Marcé has assured that there has been no conflict with the company that until now managed the space. The city council proposed that it assume this temporary stop and continue afterwards, but the company opted to terminate the contract. Now, the municipal intention is to call a new tender.
"We offered to make this stop and continue later, but they have decided to terminate the contract and we will hold a new competition" - Xavier Marcé, Councilor for Culture
The awarding of the new project is scheduled for September of next year. That future contract will imply, according to the forecast conveyed by the City Council, a reduction in El Molino's opening hours until 11 p.m. That measure, in fact, had already been applied since February.
A historic building with technical limitations
The municipal official in charge of Culture recalled that the building dates from 1898 and that its configuration conditions the scope of any reform. He pointed out that a reopening with activity until five in the morning would require an even more complex intervention on the building.
Marcé also pointed out that when the City Council acquired El Molino in 2021, there were no neighborhood complaints and the permits were still valid. The situation changed later, with the appearance of protests against noise pollution, which have ended up leading to the temporary closure of the venue and a remodeling that will mark the immediate future of one of the most recognizable spaces on Paral·lel.