Barcelona Ombudsman’s Office calls for addressing 'structural causes' of street sellers

The Barcelona Ombudsman's Office has urged "addressing the structural causes" of street sellers and "avoiding reactive policies that stigmatize" the people engaged in this business.

In a statement, the institution says that the municipal action "is not sufficient to guarantee the human rights" of people who practice irregular street selling and says the policies applied "contribute even more to stigmatizing people who sell," and only serve to add to their "situation of exclusion."

The statement underlines that sellers "in no case" represent a public order problem.

The trade union has sent a series of recommendations to the Barcelona City Council, among which is the promotion of a table among all actors in the city to address the issue of street selling.

The letter also proposes the preparation of a census of people who practice irregular sales, reactivate programs aimed at helping people in vulnerable situations, and exploring new ways to encourage employment among the collective.

The Ombudsman points out that only 3.46% of fines are paid, a fact "that shows the lack of effectiveness" of sanctioning procedure.

With unauthorized street vending, "the limitations" of the role of local administrations cannot be ignored. 

"It is absolutely necessary to address the phenomenon with multi-level and multi-sector coordination of all the public administrations involved," said David Bondia of Barcelona's Ombudsman's Office.