ERC has requested the appearance of Albert Batlle, councilor of Ciutat Vella, so that he explains the new Uses Plan before its vote in the next Urbanism commission of the Barcelona City Council. The municipal government defends the document with the declared objective of curbing the proliferation of cannabis stores, nail salons, and supermarkets in the district.
The underlying discrepancy is that the republican group maintains that the text, despite that objective, maintains margins of flexibility that can facilitate new implementations linked to nightlife, the tourism business, and the sale of cannabis in Ciutat Vella. ERC places the main clash with the Jaume Collboni executive there.
ERC asks Batlle to explain a plan that will go to Urbanism
The municipal group of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya demands that Batlle be held accountable for a document that affects one of the districts with the most commercial and tourist pressure in Barcelona. The request comes before the plan goes through the Urbanism commission.
Elisenda Alamany, president of the ERC municipal group in the City Council, maintains that the text continues to favor the gentrification and commercial exploitation of the district. She also states that it is incompatible with the will to protect the city's identity and that it arrives late in the face of the emergency that, in her opinion, Ciutat Vella is experiencing.
"It is incompatible with the will to protect the identity of the city and it is late in the face of the emergency that Ciutat Vella is experiencing" - Elisenda Alamany, president of the municipal group of ERC, Barcelona City Council
The plan would allow 18 cannabis stores, 250 supermarkets, and seven nightclubs
The ERC's criticism is not limited to the general approach of the document. The group assures that the Collboni government has introduced flexibility mechanisms that could favor the establishment of nightclubs, cannabis associations, tourist services, or 24-hour supermarkets.
In their arguments, the Republicans proposed closing that door in several specific areas of the district. The municipal executive did not accept any of those proposals.
According to the details presented by ERC, the plan would not prevent the opening of 18 new cannabis associations or shops, in addition to 250 supermarkets and seven nightclubs. Two of those nightlife venues could be located on Joan de Borbó promenade.
Alamany frames that rejection of the allegations as a political decision by the municipal government. The republican leader states that the executive's refusal demonstrates an absolute lack of will to rectify.
ERC's request involves remaking the document to recover the district's balance, protect local businesses, and limit the uses that, in their opinion, worsen commercial and tourist pressure on Ciutat Vella. Among the figures the group puts on the table are seven possible nightclubs, two of them on the Joan de Borbó promenade.