SOS from the forgotten shopping center of Port Olímpic to prevent the State from evicting it

BarcelonaOn the seafront and next to a newly renovated Olympic Port, it might seem like an idyllic setting for a shopping center. Nothing could be further from the truth. For some time now, the shopkeepers clinging to life in the Moda Shopping complex—right below the Mapfre Tower—have been living a true nightmare. One that has led them to fight against the threat of eviction by the State, which has owned this forgotten Barcelona shopping center for the past six years.

To understand this mess, we need to go back to 2019, when the administrative concession under which the businesses operated in the center, inaugurated in 1993 and which also has a parking garage with more than one hundred spaces, expired. Despite the attempts of the 12 establishments then operating in the complex, the State Heritage agency—which reports to the Ministry of Finance and owns the shopping center—refused to renew their lease. The reason? According to local business owners, the government intends to auction off the empty building to a private developer. For the past six years, business owners and the Spanish government have been locked in a bitter legal battle which, despite some victories for the businesses in the initial stages, has ultimately led to the government losing in higher courts. This has resulted in a steady stream of evictions, leaving the shopping center showing clear signs of abandonment, even though six businesses remain open: the Farggi café, the Barnabier and Pato Pekín restaurants, a Burger King franchise, the La Rotonda kiosk, and the Tot Barcelona store.

Most of the businesses, in fact, already have eviction dates and will close between the end of this year and the beginning of next. This is evidenced by the red signs announcing the total liquidation that now cover the main entrance of the center. These businesses will follow the path of other establishments that had previously occupied the shopping center but have also had to close, such as Rebujito de Moncho's, a Pans & Company, a Ginos, and the enormous Casa del Chino restaurant.

Despite the imminent outcome, the Moda Shopping shop owners are not throwing in the towel and this Monday issued a warning alongside the president of the Barcelona Restaurant Guild, Roger Pallarols. In a joint letter, they asked the mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni, to actively intervene to prevent the eviction of the businesses and the loss of jobs for the 120 employees who, they said, still work there. "We ask Collboni to intercede with the State," Pallarols told reporters alongside the owners of the affected businesses. The president of the Restaurant Guild warned that the Barcelona City Council "cannot ignore" what is happening to these businesses. He also questioned why nothing is being done to prevent the closures while there is talk of defending local businesses, and he called on Collboni to lead a negotiation process with the State to reach a solution.

Risk of abandonment

Pallarols' arguments include not only the loss of businesses—some of which have been in the area for generations—and jobs, but also the potential deterioration of a "key element of Barcelona's waterfront." The restaurant owners' leader opined that it "makes no sense" for the City Council to "disinterest" in the future of this space after having undertaken a "significant transformation of the Olympic Port." "Nobody gains anything if this space is abandoned," he concluded. The shopkeepers affected by the shopping center's closure also warn that the disappearance of commercial activity in the area will lead to its abandonment, explaining that they have already had to deal with attempts to illegally occupy some of the evicted premises, which has forced them to increase nighttime security. They report that since the litigation began in 2019, they have invested over €1.5 million in maintenance of the common areas, security, and cleaning, as well as paying for municipal services. Now they are issuing a final warning to prevent the three-story shopping center, designed to resemble a ship, from sinking completely.