Barcelona starts dismantling unused street merchants in famous Rambla boulevard

La Rambla boulevard 'old bird vendors' or 'ocellaires' street merchants are now something of the past, as the city council started dismantling seven unused shops on Tuesday.

Works will last around two weeks and coincide with the famous boulevard's renovation after a request by firefighters and civil protection.

Stalls were located between La Rambla 100 and 114 on the Besòs side and the two on the Llobregat side of the boulevard between numbers 79 and 87. Besòs side is the one on the right when going from the sea to Plaça de Catalunya, while Llobregat is located to the left. This is one of the ways of dividing Barcelona based on the surrounding rivers.

At the moment, the seven stalls were closed due to the owners' leave or because the tender had ended.

The other eight flower stalls will continue their normal activity.

In September, the city council forced the clousure of such stalls after a judicial ruling and came after six vendors were already evicted on August 21. 

Earlier in July, a judge temporarily suspended the closure of the shops to further examine the case. 

But, later rulings from up to five different courts backed the city council's decision.  

The city council wanted to evict the merchants as part of a reform of La Rambla that began in June and aims to change the perception that the boulevard is strictly for tourists. 

Known in Catalan as 'ocellaires' or 'old bird sellers,' the merchants on La Rambla used to sell birds and other animals. 

In 2009, they stopped selling birds and now sell souvenirs, ice cream, tickets, and sweets. 

Back in 2016, the city council already floated the idea of dismantling the stalls, and on June 14, 2021 they told public tender winners that they would not extend the contracts that started in 1971 for 50 years.