Barcelona will not consolidate road terraces in saturated areas or with infringements

The year 2022, and in many cases before summer, will finally disappear the ugly and controversial ‘new jersey’ barriers and pivots with those who improvised 1,483 terraces installed in road to preserve the viability of Barcelona’s businesses during the pandemic. Many months of debate and the pulse of interests have finally led to a proposal for a modification of the terrace ordinance which will allow consolidating this activity but with designer furniture, the final approval of which will take place in plenary session on the 23rd. The changes seek to secure it with legal certainty, and in its latest adjustments include the non-consolidation of the watchmen who have infringed the regulations or are in already saturated areas and the exceptions that allow their survival in the case of some very small or historic places. In addition, the consistory doubles up to 4 millions subsidies for approved platforms on road.

The tortuous modification will go through the commission of Town planning, as a previous step to the plenary session. It is expected that in addition to the municipal government partners, it will have the support of the majority of the opposition, with the exception of ERC already announced. On January 1, those specific changes called to better integrate into the urban landscape the terraces gained in road at the cost of eliminating 2,652 parking spaces, in addition to traffic lanes. They are credited with saving 1,875 jobs, according to a study by the University of Barcelona.

The first deputy mayor, Jaume Collboni, recalled that the initiative – promoted since May 2020 – was part of a total of 3,618 licenses for new terraces and exceptional extensions, as an emergency adaptation to times of pandemic. Now, the consolidation of 1,483 on the road is a will shared by his party (PSC) and the Comuns that has required “specific changes” in the 2018 ordinance. In parallel, andthey will study the rest of the cases one by one, provided that an application for its continuity is submitted before February 28.

Aesthetics and economic impulse

The mayor affirms that he wants to give oxygen to this economic activity, but with a necessary aesthetic quality, that goes through one of the seven platform and furniture prototypes that have been tested since last summer and have been endorsed by a technical team. The construction will be carried out in the coming months with the idea that many terraces will already show it in summer, and in 2022 the “yellow concrete disappears” from the pedestals, Collboni has highlighted.

To facilitate the process, grants from the city council will amount to 4 million euros (compared to the two initially announced), which will cover a maximum of 50% of the cost. The Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning, Janet Sanz, stressed that the modification not only legally shields the activity, but also aims to prevent many small neighborhood businesses from having to lower the blind. He has taken his chest out of scrupulous compliance with the regulations that are required of all establishments. “We continue working to control public space,” he assured.

In this sense, to reissue the extraordinary terrace licenses it will be imperative not have infractions or sanctions in the last six months. In addition, taking into account allegations from groups such as JxCat or the FAVB, they assure that watchmen will not be consolidated in areas that the district’s technical services or due to previous complaints are considered already saturated where they threaten the balance of residential uses.

In contrast, the general director of the Restoration Guild, Roger Pallarols, has highlighted that one of the points that they value the most of the agreement with the city council has been to open their hand to the “exceptions” that allow the continuity of the terraces in cases of traditional or small bars, which due to their physical conditions do not allow works of adaptation to the general regulations, as it would be in the accessibility and volume of toilets. And it is that the set of the strict general requirements of areas of passage, location, accessibility and others are maintained as stipulated in the ordinance of three years ago.

Another of the maxims in order to be able to renew the extraordinary licenses will be to “preserve” the continuity of the terraces, avoiding dispersion and fragmentation.

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As technical specifications, it is highlighted that the use of platforms will be mandatory when the terrace is located totally or partially on the road; the furniture and base will have to be approved and they will be located in the roadway spaces adjacent to the sidewalk as parking cords, as long as they do not affect a bike lane or public transport and do not impede the passage of services, the use of public services, the display of road signs. traffic and access to parking lots or facilities. In addition, umbrellas may not be placed closer than 20 centimeters and screens will not be allowed.