At the Big House, respectfully

This is not another article from an angry Barcelonian, but a calm reflection on what we can all do, especially the City Council, to improve our daily road (im)mobility, which has now reached exasperating levels.

The city is full of construction sites, many of which will last for years, causing enormous time losses at crucial traffic points, such as Plaça Espanya, which has become a horrible nightmare, the Gran Via entering the city, or Carrer Urgell, where for hours Plaça Francesc Macià becomes a standstill. Some works are finishing on Las Ramblas or Meridiana, but today more than ever Barcelona is an obstacle course, where many Catalans have already given up on entering and only come when they have no other choice.

People look for alternatives and do what they can, but they always do it alone, because the Guardia Urbana is never there. It has been a long time since Barcelona's police force regulated traffic. Why? Is it a political decision? Is it technical? We miss it. The works cause traffic jams, and traffic jams cause blockages at intersections, in front of which drivers' self-regulation is not enough. Any driver reading this could now make a list of intersections where the Guardia Urbana should always be and never is.

We cannot count on trains to enter and leave the city, thanks to the neglect of Renfe and Adif, that is, the State. And now, moreover, millions of tourists visit us and we organize events that make exclusive use of our streets. In these exceptional circumstances, exceptional solutions are needed: the amount of works that people can tolerate has reached its limit. People's lives are not made of rubber. And we need to feel in the presence of municipal instruments, such as the Guardia Urbana, that Barcelonians are not abandoned to our misfortune.