Louis Vuitton paid 573,000 euros to Barcelona City Council to close Parc Güell.
The fashion brand's parade sparked neighborhood protests.
BarcelonaLouis Vuitton paid the City Council €573,000 to organize the brand's fashion show in Park Güell as part of the America's Cup sailing competition, according to a statement. Digital Nation and ARA has been able to confirm. The total transaction is the sum of various commitments between the fashion brand and the public company Barcelona Serveis Municipal (BSM). The Louis Vuitton fashion show was surrounded by controversy and, in fact, sparked several neighborhood protests under the slogan "The neighborhoods are not a catwalk for your fashion show." One of these, called on the same day of the event, ended in with police charges.
The amount the city council received from the French company is made up of various services provided. The price for the complete closure of the park amounts to €150,000 per day. In addition, the use of the parking lot as a logistics platform must be added, which represents a cost of €10,000 for each day it remains occupied. Also added is the cost of municipal workers involved in tasks surrounding the fashion show: prices for professionals such as cleaning and security personnel ranged from €15.93 per hour to €30.
The sum of all these amounts, taking into account that the firm used a partial occupation of the park at least 10 days before the fashion show, gives a figure of €573,000. However, this figure also includes the €3,552 that Louis Vuitton had to pay. for the partial destruction of a wall in a protected heritage areaThe City Council explained that "human error" during the setup of the event planned for Parc Güell had caused damage to a section of the stone wall near the staircase leading to the Plaza de la Natura.
Difference in treatment
The area surrounding Park Güell is particularly tense, where residents have been demanding improved management for years to combat overcrowding. Specifically, during the fashion show, residents denounced the "privatization" of a park that is the main green space in the area and was closed to the public for two afternoons for rehearsals. This also caused problems at the Escola Baldiri Reixac, located within the park.
In this regard, residents criticized the city council for using double standards and unequal treatment of residents and Louis Vuitton. The Can Baró and Carmel neighborhoods are not allowed to use the Park Güell bus parking lot when it is closed to visitors, but the fashion company was allowed to.
