The Girocleta's big leap, the most unique public bike system

GironaIt has maintained the same annual fee since its inception in 2009. But its service has grown steadily. Nearly 6,000 people use it in a city of just over 100,000 inhabitants, a 15% increase each year. And it costs no more than the annual maintenance of a bus line, €300,000, with a staff of nine. We're talking about Girona's public bicycle service, Girocleta, which was created sixteen years ago following the Bicing model and has become a successful model of sustainable mobility in mid-sized cities by adhering to two very clear principles: being inexpensive, above all, and having very limited and sustained growth, with an average of one or two new stations each year to avoid overcrowding.

However, in 2026, the Girocleta will take its first major leap: it will cease to be just a city bike and will expand to the surrounding urban area. Taking advantage of the BRCAT construction, the new rapid bus and bike lane connecting Girona with Salt, three new stations will be installed linking the city of Girona with the neighboring municipality. Simultaneously, four new stations will also be built in Girona. This will increase the number of stations from the current 35 to 42 – when the service launched, it had only 8. "We've gone from around 600,000 uses to around 700,000 in 2025, and from 4,900 users to almost 6,000. We can be very pleased," explained Isaac Sánchez, Girona's Councilor for Mobility and Public Space, at the end of the year. However, he also emphasized that the way to "boost" the service is to ensure that it "functions correctly."

This is the main obsession of Pere Casas, mobility technician for the Girona City Council, ever since the public bicycle service was created in 2009. It was initially launched thanks to a grant from the Generalitat (Catalan government) in partnership with a private company, and the name was chosen through a public survey. But in 2013, when Icnita decided to close, they faced a dilemma: "Either Girocleta died, or we took it over. And we took the plunge," he explains from the modest workshop on the Pont Major (main bridge) – a space that from the outside might look like a parking garage for a bicycle-powered building – where each of them works. Girona thus became the first city in Spain with 100% direct management of the public bicycle service. "We don't know of anyone else who also manages the technological system," Casas clarifies, aware that the service they offer users is quite old but functional.

The copy of the Ganxeta, the Reus model

Two years ago, the Reus City Council approached Girocleta to replicate the model in Reus, and a year ago, Ganxeta was inaugurated, offering a similarly inexpensive bike-sharing system—without the use of electric bikes—and with plans for sustained growth. "In Catalonia, very few medium-sized cities have a public bike-sharing system, and as a technician, I don't understand it," exclaims the mobility technician from Girona. "Because it's a very inexpensive system, compared to other public transport options, and it helps a lot of people. I encourage everyone to take the plunge, because the added value citizens receive for the price is very high."

But what changes in a city when a public bike service is deployed? La Girocleta was created with the goal of getting more people cycling in the city. And that goal has been more than achieved. According to 2023 data from the ATM (Metropolitan Transport Authority), in accordance with Girona's Supramunicipal Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, 9.8% of journeys are made by bicycle, one of the highest figures in Spain. This has occurred alongside the turned into the cycling capital of southern EuropeBut in the realm of sports, not mobility. However, if the City Council's aim was to encourage more people to buy their own bicycles, according to Casas, the Girocleta has ended up having the opposite effect: people prefer shared use to avoid theft or the space required to store a bike at home. The head of mobility also dismisses the idea that the public bicycle "reduces car traffic," arguing that, in the case of Girona, with average journeys of between seven and eight minutes, it "replaces going by bus or walking."

Now the Girocleta is facing deployment in Salt, which they consider "organic" due to the shared urban layout, but they vehemently rule out switching to electric bicycles for cost reasons. With its characteristic colors—green frame, yellow fenders, and red wheels—it is designed to be "uncomfortable," thus ensuring short journeys. This also helps to reduce theft and vandalism. "Before, a Girocleta cost 350 euros, and since the pandemic it costs 700," explains Jordi Masó, technical manager of the Girocleta service within Transports Municipales del Gironès (TMG). "If they were electric, they would cost 2,000 euros and would require much more maintenance."