I am writing these lines from a cafe, in Barcelona, the kind that has wifi and where they don't judge you if you write for a while (and they also don't want to serve you toast with alvoexpat). There's a driver who has left his car in a no-parking zone to quickly go buy something at L'Ametller. He didn't realize that by leaving it on that corner, he's blocking the bus, which is stuck in the middle of the road. The chaos is phenomenal. And lulled by the sound of horns, I hear, on El matí de Catalunya Ràdio, the mayor of Barcelona. He says he will eliminate the service of I am therefore calling on all users, especially tourists, who use them. There is very, very little time left and the rate of fines cannot be reduced! The service must continue to be a disaster until 2027. You must rent bikes and park them wherever you feel like it (or wherever your ramen is), as you have been doing. You must rent bikes and abandon them in the middle of the sidewalk, because you're too lazy to park them where they belong and you prefer to get a fine that you won't pay. You must hurry across pedestrian crossings, trying to run over any grandmother crossing with her walker. You must ring your bell, with pleased hysteria, in the Francesc Macià lane, when someone crosses your path with the noble and extravagant intention of catching a taxi from the stand and hasn't brought – to avoid stepping on your sacred path – Doraemon's gorrocòpter

Not long ago, one of those shared bicycles that many tourists use to get around Barcelona and that they usually park anywhere spent almost 36 hours parked right in Plaça Sant Jaume, in front of the City Hall. Perhaps it was then that the mayor, Jaume Collboni, matured the announcement he made this Thursday morning on the microphones of Catalunya Ràdio: the Catalan capital will not renew the licenses with which the companies of this service called bicisharing operate. On January 1st, therefore, these vehicles will no longer be able to circulate in the city.

One in five bicycle theft victims do not buy another one after it has been stolen. This is one of the data points collected by the Bicycle Club of Catalonia (BACC) and the CityLab research team from the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB) in a study that highlights concern over the consequences of the theft of this private and sustainable means of transport. Thefts often discourage its use because, among other reasons, those affected end up suffering from their bicycle being stolen again. In fact, Barcelona registered 921 reports of bicycle theft in 2024. That is, an approximate average of 2.5 thefts per day.