Barcelona declares war on graffiti

BarcelonaBarcelona Wants to Declare War on Graffiti. Ending graffiti is one of the main objectives of the reform of the coexistence ordinance that the municipal executive wants to have in force by the end of the year. The government commission has already approved a text that, once it receives the allegations from the opposition groups, it wants to take for initial approval in the presidential commission in June or July. All of this, with the objective that in November or December the new regulations can receive the final green light from the plenary session.

Among the highlights of this new ordinance, there is a more intense persecution of graffiti artists. On a small and large scale, on the one hand, the punishment for any graffiti author is tougher. Promoting or collaborating in the creation of graffiti in unauthorized areas.

This is a practice that the City Council has recently detected. wants to ban it citywide. With these measures, the city also wants to combat phenomena such as groups that create graffiti unexpectedly. stations of the subway.

Another factor to take into account is that the new ordinance plans to reduce the bonuses for paying the fine early, which will mean that the infraction will end up being more expensive than it is currently. While until now it was possible to obtain a reduction of between 50% and 65% of the fine if paid quickly, the municipal government's proposal now is for the reduction to be a maximum of 50% if paid within the first 10 days of notification, and 40% if paid after those 10 days, but earlier.

Beyond graffiti, as the government already explained, the ordinance expands the punishable cases by power harden The penalties for drinking and urinating in the street. The Collboni government's proposal, for example, also calls for amending the ordinance on the protection, ownership, and sale of animals, making it mandatory for dog owners to immediately clean up urine with water to "ensure the health of the streets and public spaces and prevent the deterioration of street furniture."

Tourists should pay fines immediately.

Another objective of the ordinance reform is to increase the rate of fines collected. As explained the NOWAlmost half of fines go unpaid. To prevent this, the new ordinance stipulates that, in the case of non-residents of Spanish territory, the person charged with the fine must be notified immediately and invited to pay it immediately.