Initially approved the new Land Use Plan for Ciutat Vella

The Government Commission has given the green light to the initial approval of the new Land Use Plan for Ciutat Vella, which is now published for public exhibition until September

During the same procedure, the existing suspensions for new licenses for nail and/or pedicure salons, sale of products for the cultivation of cannabis and related products, and shops for phone cases, covers, and accessories are extended throughout the district

The suspension of all licenses for new activities on La Rambla is also maintained, with the exception of new cultural activities, which are no longer suspended with this procedure

The Government Commission of the Barcelona City Council has given the initial approval of the special urban planning plan for the regulation of activities of public concurrence, food businesses, tourist services, and other activities in the district of Ciutat Vella.

During this same procedure, the existing suspensions for new licenses for nail and/or pedicure salons, sale of products for the cultivation of cannabis and related products, and shops for phone cases, covers, and accessories, valid since July 2024, are extended throughout the district.

The suspension of all licenses for new activities on La Rambla is also maintained, with the exception of new cultural activities, which are no longer suspended with this procedure. Specifically, activities such as café-theater, concert hall, musical shows, seated concerts, audiovisual presentations, art galleries, theater, circus, artistic and literary creation, museum activities, archives, and libraries, bookstores, and cultural dissemination centers, among others, will be authorized on La Rambla.

The document, approved at the last Government Commission meeting in June, according to the planned schedule, and published in the BOPB this week, will have to undergo a public exhibition period during the summer, with the expectation of achieving final approval towards the end of the year or early 2026, at the plenary committee and Plenary Council.

A single regulation with a focus on enriching the commercial fabric of Ciutat Vella

The new Land Use Plan proposes a single regulation for the entire district, with two singularized strategic axes: La Rambla and Via Laietana, where the variety of commercial and corporate uses is intended to be strengthened, emphasizing the new use of Via Laietana and reinforcing La Rambla as a future axis of cultural activity to face the transformation after urban reforms.

This new regulation continues with the aim of preserving habitability in the district, now taking into account not only the impacts of nighttime activities but also the set of externalities, including daytime activities and establishments such as souvenir shops, phone cases and accessories stores, growshops (or cannabis product stores), and associations for the consumption of this product, opting for regulation criteria that should enhance cultural offerings and higher quality economic activities or those in service to the local fabric, in order to enrich the commercial fabric of Ciutat Vella and, at the same time, avoid a commercial monoculture established in some areas of the district.

Ciutat Vella has 3,102 registered economic activities throughout the district, of which 1,357, 43.7%, are related to restoration, and 720 to food businesses. Another 498 are tourist and daily non-food businesses, and of the total across the district, by neighborhoods, 1,104 activities are concentrated in the Raval neighborhood, followed by 856 in the Gothic quarter.