Barcelona cools purchase of abandoned shopping center in the Olympic Village

BarcelonaThe fourth deputy mayor of Barcelona City Council, Jordi Valls, has cooled down this Wednesday the possibility of the council buying the Centre de la Vila in the short term. After, "as reported by ARA, the State—owner of the center through Mercasa—could not find a buyer for the commercial center of the Vila Olímpica, Valls has not closed the door to the council potentially acquiring the space in the future, but has emphasized the "extraordinary difficulties and risks" that the operation would entail. Firstly, he warned, beyond the purchase cost, updating the facility could have an extra cost for the municipal coffers "of between 25 and 30 million euros".

"It is not a small operation. It is not like buying a car," Valls argued during a presentation promoted by Barcelona en Comú in the economy commission. The head of Economy for the municipal government stressed that after the auction it has become clear that "the market does not pay 18 million euros" for the center, and recalled that Mercasa claimed 80 million euros the first time the City Council—then under the leadership of Ada Colau—spoke with the company about the Centre de la Vila. "Now we have to see what the value and the price are. And if potentially this government should acquire it," he pointed out, and stressed that it is a process that "will take time." "What this City Council should not do is pay prices that should not be paid," he said.

In fact, Valls has put on the table other options that do not involve the City Council purchasing the facility. Among them, the transfer of the space to the council by Mercasa—although he has never hidden his skepticism about this route—, that the public company finds a private party interested in the space, or even the possibility that the City Council buys it to update it and then sell it. "We must not give up on the idea that there might be a private entity with a project there," defended the councilor, who added that if the City Council ultimately has to acquire it, it must be with "the minimum possible cost."

The cost of updating the equipment is one of the keys to an operation that residents have been demanding for a long time, but which the municipal government does not see clearly. Among the difficulties it detects are that the characteristics of the space correspond to an obsolete commercial model, the poor condition of part of the facilities, and the ongoing litigation in the downtown parking lot. According to Valls' calculations, the purchase and subsequent updating of the Centre de la Vila would involve a total investment of around 40 million euros. "What we invest here we cannot invest elsewhere," Valls emphasized, who has committed to keeping the groups informed as discussions with Mercasa progress.

During his speech, Valls also referred to the possibility of converting the space into a municipal market as Barcelona en Comú claimed in its initiative. "We could study it, but I will say in advance that initial estimates indicate that there is not enough density of residents to create a market there," he said. However, he argued that he does not believe it is the time to talk about the future uses of a space that is not currently owned by the City Council.

The opposition demands decisive steps

During the debate, the opposition groups agreed in asking the municipal government for decisive leadership after the auction was left deserted. "It is time to do something," said Barcelona en Comú councilwoman Tània Corrons. "It is no longer enough to look at the operation from a distance. Now he must explain to us what he plans to do," added Víctor Martí from the PP. Jordi Coronas, from ERC, accused Mercasa of acting "like another speculative fund" and considered the performance of the different municipal governments so far to be "disappointing." From Junts, Joana Ortega has proposed future alternatives for the space, which she defended could be used as a logistics center for Mercabarna.