The government of Mayor Jaume Collboni is shelving one of the most notorious measures of the Ada Colau executive in the previous mandate, the hourly restrictions imposed on bars, terraces and grocery stores located in the noisiest points of the Raval and Gòtic neighborhoods. .
The councilor responsible for the Ciutat Vella district, the socialist Albert Batlle, revoked this Tuesday the measure that required the more or less 60 bars and restaurants located on Joaquín Costa street and surrounding areas to close an hour earlier, in the Raval neighborhood, as well as such as those arranged on Escudellers Street, George Orwell Square and its surroundings, in the Gòtic. The establishments also had to dismantle their nightstands one hour before the ordinance stated.
Last spring, the previous councilor responsible for the district, Jordi Rabassa, established these limitations with the aim of improving the battered coexistence. The measure was highly applauded by many residents of these neighborhoods, although they considered it insufficient. Businesses, on the other hand, ultimately reported considerable losses, and warned that in this way only franchises and chains would be able to move forward in the indicated areas.
The City Council stated this Thursday in a press release that these measures “are now void due to defects in notification and exceeding deadlines that invalidate their validity.” Apparently some of the affected businesses filed an administrative lawsuit against the City Council in order to remove these limitations, and after analyzing the situation, the municipal legal services themselves understand that the defects in their processing invalidate them. Furthermore, and although the City Council does not make any reference to this in its press release, it is no secret that quite a few establishments were considering the possibility of claiming damages from the local administration.
The Colau government established other restrictions of the same nature in the districts of Gràcia and Sants-Montjuïc and on Enric Granados Street. Then the Gremi de Restauració of Barcelona declared that these limitations were in fact a declaration of war on the sector that would unleash a bloody judicial battle. Many now hope that the revocations in Ciutat Vella will trigger others.
In any case, the Collboni government does not want to give the impression that it is not concerned about noise pollution, and in the press release issued this Thursday it announced that it is finalizing a new plan in this regard, the first measure of which involves the installation of eight sound level meters in Ciutat Vella. which will be added to the 30 already operating in the district. He also plans to convene the district’s Soroll Taula shortly.
According to the City Council, “the measures and actions of the new plan that has begun to be developed will be reflected in a new regulation that will replace the decrees of time restrictions in Raval and Gòtic, which limited the hours for the installation of terraces and the closing hours of restaurants and music bars, and commercial establishments selling food.”
