Starting this Monday, December 18, Barcelona City Council can fine people who take dogs without leash outside the 225 authorized areas or outside the permitted hours, according to the decree that regulates spaces for animals without leash that has already entered into force. vigor.
The fines will be 100 euros when the dog is loose outside the authorized spaces but does not pose a danger; 300 euros if it poses a danger to other people or the environment; and 600 euros when they are in playgrounds, as contemplated in the ordinance on the protection, possession and sale of animals.
On the other hand, the City Council has been deploying the 109 “shared use” areas where dogs can go off leash at certain times of the day for a few weeks now.
They are not exclusive areas for these animals, but “you have to live with the rest of the users” and the uses they make, and that is why a sign will mark when they can go without leashing.
Since June, teams of informants “have been deployed in these areas to publicize the regulations” and, according to the City Council’s forecasts, between December and January the 109 areas spread across the 73 neighborhoods will be completed.
Thus, these 109 spaces are added to the rest of the areas for dogs, which add up to a total of 225 points with 900,000 m2 available for them to go off leash.
With this initiative, Barcelona aims to open spaces for dogs to “have fun, socialize and do physical activity, which is necessary for their health,” municipal sources detail.
