Barcelona prohibits the opening of new 24-hour supermarkets

BarcelonaHalt to the expansion of 24-hour supermarkets in the city of Barcelona. This Wednesday morning, the municipal government of Jaume Collboni has announced that it is temporarily suspending the granting of new licenses to self-service and super-service establishments that can open 24 hours. The suspension is effective immediately, as it was published this morning in the Official Gazette of the Province of Barcelona (BOPB), and will be valid for one year. During this time, the council assures that it wants to work on new planning "that allows for the protection of local commerce, the preservation of commercial diversity, and the avoidance of saturation and monoculture processes in certain areas of the city", as stated in a press release.

Official Bulletin of the Province of BarcelonaSince then, the municipal government has increased controls, with surgical measures, and also inspections to detect irregularities. In fact, the council assures that "the generalized implementation of this type of establishment has, in various cases, generated coexistence problems with the neighborhood, especially in areas with high residential density or strong tourist pressure". This is why, it emphasizes, a "global and coordinated regulation at the city level" is needed, and the veto is strictly aimed at the commercial categories that have promoted the expansion of this type of establishment.

Exceptions to the veto

The suspension of new opening licenses has some exceptions. The districts of Sant Martí and Ciutat Vella, for example, already have recent regulations in this area. It is, says the council, "restrictive regulations aligned with the criteria of future municipal planning" and, therefore, these areas are excluded from the new veto because they already have their own tools.

"Municipal data indicates that these limitations have been effective, which reinforces the need to extend the model to the whole of Barcelona," they point out from the government. The measure will also not affect municipal markets, which are also explicitly excluded from the suspension.

This Wednesday, the Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning, Laia Bonet, added that in these districts "changes have been seen" and "order has been established", but at the same time admitted that the pressure has shifted to neighboring districts. "Limitations" have also been detected, especially in the Eixample, where larger supermarkets have ended up opening to circumvent the regulations, she explained. It is in this context, Bonet said, that "a more radical measure is needed".

Even more inspections

In parallel to the temporary suspension of licenses, the Barcelona City Council has announced that it will continue to intensify inspection efforts to ensure compliance with regulations for this type of establishment through ordinary reviews and multi-inspections. In this regard, the government has emphasized that during this term, 14 campaigns have already been launched in different districts, allowing for the review of over 230 premises. "In all [inspection campaigns], non-compliance related to the typology of 24-hour food establishments has been found.

The most relevant inspection was two years ago, in the Eixample. In December 2024, more than a hundred establishments were reviewed, which brought to light, among other things, premises that were, at the same time, sub-standard housing. The multi-inspections have also evidenced over 1,440 infractions related to license requirements, more than 250 concerning public health, 163 linked to poor waste management, 123 cases of labor-related issues, and 116 infractions with the Treasury, in addition to multiple urban planning and cityscape incidents.

Criticism from BComú, ERC, and Junts

The municipal government's decision has been interpreted as a rectification by the rest of the parties. The councilor for Barcelona en Comú, Tània Corrons, recalled that her group had already requested a city plan to rationalize these establishments during the negotiation of the fiscal ordinances, and that Collboni did not accept it at the time. "Once again, with Collboni, changes either arrive late or don't arrive at all. We hope it doesn't remain another unfulfilled promise," Corrons stated.

From ERC, the president of the municipal group, Elisenda Alamany, also interpreted the announcement of the suspension as a "clear rectification" by the municipal government "tired by ERC". "It shows that we continue to set the agenda to ensure that Barcelona continues to be Barcelona," said Alamany, who warned, however, that a year of suspension "solves nothing". The republican advanced that if she were mayor, she would suspend new licenses for the entire term and throughout the city, and lamented that Wednesday's announcement comes after yesterday the commission approved, with the support of Junts, the Ciutat Vella usage plan, "which opens the door to more establishments aimed at tourists".

Junts per Barcelona also criticized Collboni's government's decision. The spokesperson, Damià Calvet, considered that the measure confirms "an absolute failure" of the executive and described it as an "electoralist move" that comes too late. In this regard, he said that the municipal government has passively watched how the establishments have doubled – from 700 to 1,300 in a few years, Calvet said – and that his group already promoted in November 2024 a unanimously approved motion that called for action on the phenomenon.