Ciutat Vella will launch a new Uses Plan this week that will restrict the opening of new tourist and leisure activities in the district and which will be approved in Wednesday's Urban Planning Commission with the votes of Junts and the PP. BComú and ERC have already announced their rejection.
The key to the text lies in a difficult balance. The City Council maintains that it wants to curb tourist pressure without closing the district, while the new regulation clearly tightens which businesses can open and under what conditions, in one of the areas with the most neighborhood and commercial tension in Barcelona.
The regulation will come into force before the suspension of licenses for certain activities, which the council decreed in 2024, ends in July, so that there is no regulatory vacuum in Ciutat Vella.
The plan expands the regulation of Ciutat Vella to 180 activities
The new document distinguishes 180 types of activities, 125 more than the previous regulation. Based on this classification, it limits new openings based on commercial concentration, street width, and premises size.
The scope of application will cover all of Ciutat Vella, although it excludes municipal markets and Port Vell.
In addition to general restrictions, the regulation prohibits the establishment of gaming halls, bingo halls, casinos, music bars with private areas for sexual services, and erotic show venues.
It also bans new cannabis clubs and the sale of souvenirs in non-specialized shops, an activity widespread in areas of the Gothic Quarter and around La Rambla.
Batlle defends that the norm curbs tourist pressure without "bunkering"
Albert Batlle, councilor for Ciutat Vella, maintains that the text seeks to contain the tourist specialization of the district and favor other uses. In this line, the plan prioritizes the opening of cultural facilities and businesses.
"The district tore down its walls a century and a half ago and it is in no way a question of putting them back up. We must avoid bunkering, it is about expelling activities that do not bring wealth, but at the same time avoiding closure" - Albert Batlle, councilor for Ciutat Vella, Barcelona City Council
Batlle also stated that the document "guarantees that tourist pressure does not increase and puts culture and coexistence with residents at the center."
Among the uses that the City Council wants to favor are museums, art galleries, libraries, archives, cinemas, bookstores, and conference rooms.
In parallel, the installation of musical ambiance activities, such as dance halls, karaoke bars, or nightclubs, will be more limited. The plan will only allow their opening on streets at least 15 meters wide.
The new regulation excludes municipal markets and Port Vell from its scope, but in the rest of the district, it will regulate 180 types of activity, 125 more than the previous regulation.