The gradual loss of nightlife venues in Barcelona (and in its metropolitan area) has led the employers in the sector to demand a plan on the model of night that is wanted for the Catalan capital, as well as regulatory changes that allow Generate new licenses for bars, discos and nightclubs. The group believes that it is the only way for quality regulated activity to survive in the face of the risk that “low cost” bottles and parties will proliferate as an alternative. From the neighborhood level, it is committed to the integration of leisure in the city, but with a strategic vision of the city so as not to conflict with the right to rest.
As reported by EL PERIÓDICO, in recent decades it is estimated that some 125 night businessaccording to data collected by the Fecalon and the Gremi d’Empresaris de Discoteques de Barcelona i Província. The sector has been affected by various factors, such as conflicts with neighboring residents, real estate speculation by locals, the crisis, changes in habits, the lower purchasing power of many young people, and municipal regulations, they say.
As a result of this situation, for years licenses have been reduced without compensation in terms of capacity. The Barcelona government does not have a unanimous position. The Economic Promotion area managed by the socialists is more favorable to opening a debate in this regard, after several meetings with the employers, who complain of mistreatment by the Urban Planning area, which depends on the ‘comuns’. “It cannot be that the use plans prevent business development & rdquor ;, protests Fernando Martínez, director of Fecalon. He laments that the trend is towards prohibition and to a certain criminalization of the sector, as happened during the health crisis.
The two positions of the bipartisan government
Sources of Town planning indicate that “the city council has made a significant effort to promote musical and recreational activities”, with the ordinance so that bars, cafeterias or restaurants can carry out small-format cultural activities, such as live music or performing arts”, with the idea of “balance of uses”.
But in the field of “nightlife activities (clubs, music bars…), one of the priorities is to protect the day to day and the rest of the neighborhood”, they say. “The concentration of establishments can cause noise at night, inconvenience and negative effects for the neighborhood,” alleges the consistory. To avoid this, they have drawn up the use plans that regulate the implementation, as in the Eixample. But they defend that there are areas without limitations that only depend on “the relevant licenses and the necessary requirements.”
The Councilor for Tourism and Creative Industries, Xavier Marcé (PSC), has spent three decades defending (from different positions) “the integration of leisure in the urban fabric”. He has experienced the disaster of his location in polygons (the case of Sabadell) and rejects the ‘apartheid’ of youth entertainment. “You have to make an effort to adapt, with new licenses with technical solutions that favor implementation without conflict,” she defends. “Use plans must define what we want from a neighborhood, more than what we don’t want,” she adds, emphasizing that nightlife is associated with creativity, the music industry and talent. “The sector wants to talk and it is time to reach agreements”he says pointing to a more “extensive” leisure and with prices that allow banishing the bottle.
Protection of superior administrations?
Ramon Mas, secretary general of the guild, is forceful in demanding “courage” from the administrations to prevent the activity from continuing to decline. “If the premises are not owned, continuity is difficult, because in addition the licenses cannot be moved.” claim a “top regulation” that prevents municipal urban planning from leading to use plans that “in theory are conceived to avoid the concentration of a certain activity, but what they do is prohibit it directly”. And he remembers that the problem is not only juvenile, since dance halls for the senior public are also extinguished, with few survivors like Imperator.
Many music bars disappeared due to the 2008 crisis and the tendency to concentrate activity in the same place (restaurant, drinks and club) to avoid traveling by car. And getting new licenses is an epic, say the businessmen. The same happens with the special time slots that the Government included in its new catalog of activities, the equivalent of ‘afters’, whose implementation conditions are so complex that they end up being impossible.
Neighbors: neither polygons nor in blocks
The option of taking leisure out of the city to industrial estates It does not seem feasible either, because it involves mobility, accident and safety problems, as has been seen in the experiences of other municipalities. From the Federation of Barcelona Veins Associations (FAVB)Peter Mariner, rules out “throw out of the city everything that botherslike fun for young people”. The entity is in favor of integrating it into the city but is very clear that cannot fit into “surrounded by neighbors” environments because he sees “very difficult” management without conflicts. “Not because of the premises but because of the movement of entrances and exits,” he argues, ruling out the fit of it in Ciutat Vella, the Eixample and areas of residential use.
“We are not deniers and we believe that alternatives to the bottle must be given,” he continues, pointing to areas “not isolated, but surrounded by activities but without residents next door.” Y cites examples such as 22@, Zona Franca points, new urban parks or the vicinity of Montjuïc.
Bottledromes
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The sector is still trying to digest the recommendations of the Síndic de Barcelona, who proposed ‘botellodromes’ in controlled spaces as an alternative to spontaneous large bottles. For now, the consistory has not picked up the glove that the union launched, despite the fact that this youth phenomenon soared in the city when the regulated offer was closed due to the pandemic, creating problems of coexistence. Since FecasarmJoaquim Boadas, defends the thesis that there is a direct transfer of legal leisure users “to the illegal with the reduction in supply” and that we must not lose sight of the importance that this area has for tourism.
Fecalon argues that the solution is not to blame the prices of drinks in a local, certainly incompatible with many youth pockets. They affirm that of the 10 euros that an average drink costs, 3.47 euros are taxes (VAT on alcohol, electricity, municipal taxes…), another 1.32 are the proportional part of the workers’ salaries, 3 .87 cover payments to third-party companies (rent, product, management, insurance…) and 1.35 euros would be the real business profit. According to Martínez, the ‘low cost’ alternative involves losing control of the activity, safety and quality of the space.