Barcelona city councillor wants to 'eliminate' shops that 'don't contribute' to city

Barcelona city councilor for the old town district, Albert Batlle, is in favour of "eliminating" stores that "don't contribute anything" to the city.

The Socialist pointed at stores that sell mobile phone cases as an example of such establishments that he wants to rid from the city center, in an interview with the Catalan News Agency (ACN).  

Batlle wants to "eliminate" or at least "restrict" these shops or other similar ones, such as souvenir shops. 

The councillor also questions how such stores are capable of paying rents of up to €5,000 a month on busy central streets such as Carrer Comtal or Santa Anna, and called for the Tax Agency to clarify the business that is ongoing in these places.

Nightlife and tourism

Batlle also spoke about disturbances caused by nightlife and tourism in the old town district. "There are areas of the city where there are levels of noise and nuisance that citizens should not have to put up with," he remarked.

The councilor admits that Barcelona has a problem with nightlife: "It's a small, congested city, and it doesn't have the spaces to decompress."

Some years ago, there were large amusement parks in the metropolitan area and many nightclubs outside the city, and this, Batlle believes, ensured that activity was well spread out. But, in more recent years, they have been closing down, causing a concentration in the Catalan capital.

Regarding the future of the concentration of nightclubs on the beachfront, Batlle says the debate is still open and it will be necessary to discuss options with the Catalan and Spanish governments, the latter of which owns part of the spaces.

According to Batlle, in recent years the degree of nuisance in the area has decreased "very significantly."

Barcelona is still seeing "record" numbers of tourists coming to the city and it is necessary to avoid a point of "saturation."

City authorities are working on avoiding this through means such as limiting tourist groups to 20 people per group.