The city could benefit from the bill proposed by the PSC-Units parliamentary group so that no emblematic business changes hands or activity without prior notification
The tenacity of some of the most traditional establishments in the city wins awards, for preserving the local commercial identity
Each closure of a historic store tears up the map of Barcelona’s commerce a little, attacking that identity that makes the difference between increasingly globalized cities. The Protection Catalog of the Architectural, Historical-Artistic and Landscape Heritage of Emblematic Establishments of Barcelona of 2016 finally included 209, of which 29 (14%) have since closed, according to the last municipal count. Management tools fall short and casualties are often detected only by the media. Therefore, the PSC of Barcelona, at the helm of the municipal area of Commerce, has worked with the PSC-Units parliamentary group to present last month a law amendment proposal that obliges the holders of these to notify cancellations, changes of ownership or activity in order to avoid faits accomplis and favor their preservation.
Barcelona City Council awaits the outcome of a previous initiative to protect the activity as an intangible asset, and not just tangible heritage, which would prevent an establishment from closing and, even if the next operator maintains its protected aesthetic, from having a totally dissonant use. In the meantime, it has opted for this proposal of modification of the law 9/1993 of the Catalan Cultural Heritage. The Councilor for Commerce, Montse Ballarín, believes that the introduction of two articles that oblige not only the conservation of the assets but also the information of their transmission three months in advance, as well as the sanctions otherwise, can be decisive so that the city council “is aware of time” and could avoid closure or help find a relief.
Trickle of casualties… and incentives
The almost thirty casualties of stores considered emblematic -of which this newspaper has been reporting these 6 years- is added to many others of a historical nature due to their roots or continued activity, but due to the lack of elements of heritage interest after successive reforms lack protection. Its presence, however, is what gives a unique character to neighborhoods or commercial hubs.
So that these businesses are not only news when a blind goes down, both the administration and the entities in the sector reward their resistance and ability to adapt. A few weeks ago Barcelona Trade awarded as the best historical trade awarded to the Printing Baltasar 1861 de Sant Andreu, which with a whopping 171 years has become the oldest in Catalonia. It has the merit of having preserved a trade linked to culture without losing ground in new technologies.
George Bosch, fifth generation, militates in the philosophy of “effort and the mentality of always pulling forward”. The saga has coexisted with wars, revolutions, general strikes and economic crises, so the pandemic has not shaken them. “A virus is not going to knock us down,” he jokes in the shop and workshop that he runs with his mother, Mercè, and a small staff. Diversifying, from individuals to companies, from business cards to posters, and keeping up to date with all the advances in graphic arts seem to be their formulas for eternity.
There are also recognitions for those who resurrect heritage avoiding hecatombs. The award for the best store went to the pastry shop Brunell’s, from 1852, which had already closed and was for rent when three partners, Joan Guasch, Salvador Sans and Lluis Estrada, “with a certain romanticism about the world of pastry“they bet on trying to maintain their essence (visible in the store) and to contribute something more to the business, both in the product –traditional but updated– and in a more modern tasting space. The location stands out in a corner of the Born and also his courage, when reopening in the midst of a pandemic, in 2020.
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another veteran, Santa Eulalia, as a multi-brand luxury and tailoring shop on Passeig de Gràcia, recently won the 2021 National Prize for Domestic Trade, awarded by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. The establishment, which includes seven generations of merchants (four of them from the sans), not only will he turn 179 in top form, but during the health crisis he has made digitization a better ally.