Commerce sets homework for Barcelona: "We have stopped being a friendly and attractive city"

BarcelonaThe eleventh Summit organized by Barcelona Oberta is titled The Barcelona that could be. An idea that does not hide a certain dissatisfaction with the city as it is today. "It is a provocative title," admits the president of the organization, Gabriel Jené, right at the start, and it soon becomes clear that it undoubtedly generates debate. The Barcelona that could be, according to the mayor, Jaume Collboni, and several of the speakers participating in the event, does not quite align.

The mayor opens fire with a measure that satisfies the organizers of the conference and one that does not as much. First, he celebrates the success of the consumption vouchers launched by the city council to favor local commerce, of which more than 15,000 have already been spent. "Buying is like voting. By deciding where we shop, we decide what kind of city we are creating," he asserts; then he starts the defense of a measure that Barcelona Oberta has already publicly questioned: regulating the rent of commercial premises.

"Many times the price increase is unaffordable for the merchant," warns Collboni, who advocates for regulating the succession of contracts to prevent the transition from one contract to another from resulting in having to pay 30%, 50%, or 100% more in rent. The mayor emphasizes that it is not an idea he "pulled out of a hat" but rather one that is already working in Paris. "I know this topic opens up debate, but I believe it must be opened," he concludes.

In the subsequent round table, the first to pick up the gauntlet is Paloma Bergós, director of real estate portfolio management at Casacuberta. "The problem is not the rent price," she asserts, and remarks that commercial activities "must be profitable," arguing that what the city should do is provide more aid to small merchants and reduce bureaucratic hurdles.

In favor of 'expats'

The president and CEO of Meridia Capital, Javier Faus, is also critical of the excess of regulation and protectionism in housing as well as in tourism and commerce. "In the dichotomy between protecting the city we all want and opening up, the debate is tending a lot towards closing ourselves off," he warns. "We have stopped being an attractive and friendly city to visit," he concludes.

In his speech, Faus also defends a controversial figure in the city: expats. "Now expats are bad because they speak English and have brunch instead of coffee with milk. Barcelona will be nothing if it is not open," he denounces. The president of Barcelona Global, Josep Lluís Sanfeliu, also comes to the defense of this group. "The expat is not necessarily the one with matcha and jogging, they are also a scientist or a photographer who adds value to the city," he argues.

As the conversation progresses, the debate emerges about whether Barcelona sometimes governs only thinking about the citizens who vote there and not those who interact with it. Alemany is one of those who asks to raise our sights, and to act thinking about the entire metropolis. "For a long time we have taken measures with which we conveyed the message 'Don't come, you bring us problems'," he warns, and highlights the key role of mobility in the future of the city.

Fleeing from catastrophism, the businessman and president of ARA and the board of the Antoni Tàpies Foundation, Ferran Rodés, bets on improving self-esteem and boasts about the virtues that Barcelona has. He admits, however, that we must believe in them, promote local talent, and provide the city with a shared project. "Barcelona had ambition in the past, and now perhaps we lack that ambition," he acknowledges.