Barcelona mayor eyes up mechanisms to preserve iconic premeses and historic businesses

Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni has set his sights on protecting iconic premeses "at risk," through both legal instruments to regulate their rents, or else to give administrations the opportunity to purcahse the locales to prevent their loss.

The mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni, has suggested creating a fund for the local council to purchase iconic premeses "at risk." 

The Socialist has also proposed regulating the rents of neighborhood or such emblematic shops to guarantee their continuity and avoid their loss due to price increases that they cannot cope with.

In an interview with the Catalan News Agency, the mayor wanted to make the point that it is time to open a debate on commercial gentrification.

Collboni raised the need to regulate commercial rents through the Urban Leases Law, while he also believes it necessary for authorities to have a preferential purchase option on business with historical significance being sold.

His party will put forward a municipal proposal to defend unique businesses.

The Barcelona mayor also urges the Spanish government to modify laws to allow for specific instruments to "regulate or moderate rent increases."

The use plans adopted by the Barcelona local government have contributed to a "balance" in the commercial offer, but have not prevented the loss of many premises and businesses. For this reason, Collboni believes that regulating rents would be a way to help businesses that have to deal with "heavy increases" when there is a change of ownership and a new contract.

Thus, the mayor defends that "there is a way" to take more measures to protect local local commerce and warns that doing nothing can lead to "commercial desertification".

Strategic purchase fund

In addition, Collboni also wants to implement an instrument to give the council right of first refusal over iconic commercial premises to preserve them and for the administration to act as asset manager.

This would help active businesses that encounter offers from large chains to keep the premises or double or triple the rent price to evict them.

The mayor points to the example of Paris for this measure.

"I believe that we are ready to open a debate with the government of Catalonia before the end of this year and begin to study what legislative, economic, and budgetary measures should be adopted to create this fund for the strategic purchase of commercial premises that are at risk and that have a key patrimonial, identity, or activity interest for many neighborhoods," he says.

He believes that the city councils should have the last word, and proposes doing so especially with strategic commercial axes and areas with touristic tension.