Barcelona's Ciutat Vella district is moving towards final approval of a new urban plan designed to promote cultural activities and improve local coexistence. The Special Urban Plan for the Regulation of Public Activities, Food Shops, Tourist Services, and Other Activities in Ciutat Vella aims to unify regulations across the entire district, with specific focus on Via Laietana and La Rambla.

The plan, which will be presented to the Ecology, Urban Planning, and Housing Commission next week, replaces two existing plans with a single, more precise regulatory model. This new approach triples the number of regulated activities from 55 to 180, according to the Barcelona City Council.

Key changes include stricter rules for non-daily, non-food businesses, such as new nail salons, mobile accessory shops, and cannabis product stores. The plan also restricts private associative activities to prevent the spread of cannabis clubs and, for the first time, prohibits the sale of souvenirs as a complementary product to a main licence across the district.

Boosting Culture and Limiting Impact

The new plan creates new categories to support cultural activities previously restricted or banned. These include new art galleries, museums, libraries, archives, cinemas, bookshops, conference rooms, and performing arts venues. Conversely, it continues to restrict new discotheques, music bars, dance halls, and show venues, aligning with the "Initiatives for the Comprehensive Management of Night 2025-2027" government measure.

This plan is part of the actions outlined in the Pact for Ciutat Vella, which aims to organise and improve economic activities and restore the district's central role. Officials said the goal is to make regulation more agile, accurate, and effective, better organising existing activities, reducing regulatory gaps, and providing legal certainty.

Ciutat Vella has 3,102 registered economic activities, with 1,357 (43.7%) being catering businesses and 720 food shops. Another 498 are tourist establishments and non-food daily shops. The Raval neighbourhood accounts for 1,104 activities, followed by the Gòtic with 856.

A More Precise Regulatory Tool

The new plan maintains its objectives of protecting residential areas and habitability, seeking to ensure a balance of uses and set clear limits on activities that cause negative impacts. It classifies activities into three groups based on their impact on public space and coexistence, moving beyond the previous distinction between nocturnal and non-nocturnal impacts.

A second layer of restrictions limits new openings based on activity density or concentration, street width, and the minimum and maximum size of the establishment. This aims to prevent high concentrations and monopolies of specific activities in certain areas, consistent with other city-wide urban plans. This allows for greater restrictions on activities with a daytime impact, such as souvenir shops, mobile phone accessory stores, vending machine shops, and associations for cannabis consumption.

Ciutat Vella has 6.2 active establishments per 100 inhabitants, nearly double the city average of 3.7. Non-food retail makes up 28.73% of the total, 8% above the city average. The plan regulates 180 activity headings from the Municipal Ordinance of Activities and Comprehensive Environmental Administration Intervention (OMAIIA), classified into 13 activity groups.

New Criteria for Regulation

The plan introduces new criteria for regulation:

  • Limited density area: This refers to the maximum number of permitted activities in a given area to avoid excessive concentration. A limited density area is defined as a zone around an establishment where a maximum number of establishments for certain activities is set.
  • Street width: This criterion helps control activity implementation based on the urban fabric's morphological characteristics. It can apply to activities with high demand for loading and unloading or those that use public space.
  • Minimum/maximum activity size: A maximum or minimum surface area for the establishment is determined to allow its implementation.

Officials said the new plan improves the regulation of tourist services, maintaining the model in place since 2018 and reinforcing the goal of balancing uses, protecting residential areas, and promoting coexistence. The plan also considers recent trends in commercial activity within the district to refine its regulations.

Next Steps for Ciutat Vella

The new plan will undergo final approval procedures, aiming to streamline the control and regulation of activities that generate the most impact on coexistence and public space. It will also control catering and food retail activities and protect unique establishments. The plan excludes municipal markets and the Port area, which have their own regulations.