It's a few minutes past 8 a.m. and the Fabra i Puig metro station on Line 1 is overflowing. The train arrives—already quite full—and barely manages to absorb all the passengers on the platform, which is now clear. But the scene is short-lived. Seconds later, a new wave of people, practically a hundred, passes through the access gates and gets off onto the platform. A little while later, another group joins them. In a matter of minutes, the platform is packed again until another train arrives. The scene is reminiscent of the rhythm of queues at an amusement park or the impossible intersections of Tokyo, and it repeats itself tirelessly every 3 minutes. That is, the time it takes for the train to arrive during rush hour.

Bus and coach companies that transport tourists to Barcelona refuse to relinquish their right to operate right into the heart of the city. And this Tuesday morning, they made their position abundantly clear to the Collboni administration. The sector has expressed its outright rejection of the new Bus Zone 4.0 being designed by the City Council, which aims to reorganize and restrict the flow of tourist coaches in the center of the Catalan capital. Several companies and associations took advantage of the sector's fifth annual meeting, organized by the employers' association FECAV, to voice their discontent with this measure, promoted by the Tourism Department, which directly impacts mobility. "Unfair," "unrealistic," and "impoverishing": this is how professionals have described this initiative, which has already begun to reorganize the space, stops, and methods by which this sector can enter and circulate within the Catalan capital to transport its clients to the city's main points of interest. Among other measures, the Bus Zone 4.0 aims to eliminate bus stops in the city center, limit their operating hours, and require coach companies to take reservations to prevent the accumulation of vehicles and tourists in any one area. "The sector is suffering and things are getting worse; but we still have hope that it can be drastically reformed," declared Miquel Àngel Díez, vice president of the Professional Association of Tourist Guides of Catalonia. Díez made this statement in response to the City Council representative, Lídia Torres, Director of Mobility Services for Barcelona, ​​who, in her turn to speak, asserted that "the city is finite and needs order, and the model we had until now no longer works." "We have tourist coaches driving around without any organization," Torres declared before nearly 200 professionals from the coach sector. The head of municipal Mobility also insisted that change is necessary: ​​"A new urban model is needed." "We don't want to restrict, but rather reorganize, and both residents and tourists will appreciate that," Torres tried to explain, although that didn't reassure the attendees, who maintain that there are still "too many uncertainties" about this new model.

Nadal is getting closer and Barcelona is gearing up for the celebrations. After to nominate the city to become the European Capital of ChristmasThis Wednesday, Mayor Jaume Collboni presented the activities planned for this year's festivities. For the second year in a row, the program omits the installation of an artistic nativity scene in the middle of Plaça Sant Jaume. After breaking with this tradition last year, the City Council and the Generalitat (Catalan government) have agreed to return to offering a light show projected onto the facades of the two buildings, details of which have not yet been released. The show, which can be seen every night between November 22nd and January 5th, will run alongside the traditional 15-meter-tall Christmas tree erected in a corner of the square. As for the traditional nativity scene, it will once again be installed, as it was last year, in the City Hall's coach house. It will be open to the public from December 13th to January 5th, and the display will recreate Catalan mountain landscapes, allowing visitors to travel through Catalonia without leaving Barcelona. This year, the Nativity scene triples in size, growing from 24 to almost 70 square meters, and will depict the Annunciation to the Shepherds, the Nativity, the Journey of the Magi, and the Flight into Egypt. The model is the work of the historic Barcelona Nativity Scene Association, and admission is free and no appointment is necessary.

Barcelona's public ombudsman proposes that the tourism sector help improve the municipal model for emergency temporary accommodation. In a report presented this Tuesday, David Bondia advocates for a "paradigm shift" in a system that, he claims, has proven "ineffective" in meeting the goal of hostels and guesthouses as a temporary and emergency resource for vulnerable people who are evicted to spend a few months before returning to housing.

At its last plenary session, the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce voted in favor of the possibility of selling its shares in Fira 2000, the holding company of Fira de Barcelona. The move was surprising, not so much in substance as in form: the Chamber has reached an agreement with the Generalitat (Catalan government) to sell its 1.2% stake in Fira 2000—for a price of around €5 million, according to ARA—but to retain its voting rights; that is, to maintain the two seats the Chamber holds on Fira 2000's board of directors, currently held by Carmina Ganyet and Xavier Pujol. Of course, 1.2% of the shares isn't decisive; therefore, what does this move imply?

The city of Barcelona is increasingly appearing in more global and European rankings as one of the best cities in many areas. It stands out, above all, for being second in the world and first in Europe for foreign investment projects in research and development centers. In short, it is one of the 20 most competitive cities in the world. This is according to the report prepared with 2024 data by the Barcelona Observatory, an initiative promoted by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and the City Council, presented this Thursday morning.

The disappearance of the Opium nightclub on Barcelona's seafront will not be as quick as announced this July, when the City Council presented an agreement sealed with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) to make it possible for the premises to be used to expand the facilities of the Mediterranean Centre for Marine and Environmental Research (CMIMA) in the city. Although the plan was to immediately hand over the provisional use of the space while the project and the tender for the works progressed, they will now not be able to start before September next year. The State government, which is the owner of these premises on the seafront, has extended Opium's lease for another year, as confirmed by the owners of the nightclub, who had already announced that they planned to challenge the agreement in court. They considered that the decision was "unilateral" and "purely ideological" to "punish" nightlife venues in the area. They now know the business will be allowed to continue at least for another year.

The economic situation is beginning to improve after the worst of the pandemic and lockdowns, but the improvement has not yet reached the most vulnerable sectors of the population. This is clear from the annual balance made by Barcelona's social services, which shows that in 2021 97,531 different people received assistance, 10.36% more than the previous year and 22.56% more than in 2019 (79,575). This reveals a particularly significant fact: 24% of the people who asked for help last year did so for the first time or else had not requested assistance for over a year. The figure, however, is slightly lower than the 32% detected in 2020 and, therefore, shows a slight stabilisation.

Barcelona City Council's Ethics Committee has accused Mayor Ada Colau of doing "damage to the prestige and public image of the institution" by authorising in September 2020 the hiring of Alicia Ramos as a municipal advisor. Ramos was the partner of Housing councillor Lucia Martin and, moreover, was hired to work for the Housing department. Ciudadanos councillor María Luz Guilarte reported this appointment and the Committee has agreed with her. In the recommendations section, the Committee does not ask for Ramos's contract to be terminated –in fact, she no longer works for the City Council– but it does ask that "in the future, damage to the prestige and public image of the Barcelona City Council derived from or associated with cases of real or potential conflict of interest in the appointment of temporary positions should be avoided".