In a move to limit the negative impact of the pandemic for the restaurant sector, 3,668 provisional terraces were set up around the city in the middle of 2020. Specifically, 1,550 terraces were located in rows of parking spaces, traffic lanes and street corners, delimited by safety elements, while the rest were located on pavements.

Once the emergency stage was over, the process began to regularise terraces for those who requested it. In all there were applications to make 2,899 terraces permanent, with 1,131 getting the go ahead (574 on road surfaces and 557 on pavements). In contrast, 1,435 applications were refused as the terraces did not comply with the by-law on terraces and the specifics of each district. The rest of the applications were ruled out owing to shortcomings which could not rectified or because establishments opted out.

Safe terraces in keeping with the urban landscape

The consolidation of authorised terraces on road surfaces is being achieved through the removal of provisional safety elements, which will be replaced with safer and accessible authorised platforms. These new structures have aesthetic quality and fit in well with the urban landscape. In terms of terraces on pavements, the process sought to ensure they comply with accessibility requisites for public space and the established by-laws.

Out of the 1,550 terraces located on road surfaces during the pandemic, the coming days will see 1,387 of these removed (nine out of ten), and the prevision is that the rest will be gone in April. To date, 2,325 concrete blocks and 5,550 bollards have been removed. When the work is completed, the city will have regained 515 loading and unloading spaces, 3,750 parking spaces for motorcycles and 510 for cars.

At the same time, new platforms are also being installed. By the end of the month, 440 platforms will have been set up, some 89% of the total. The other 55 are still waiting for the administration process to be completed and will be set up some time in April. Of the 574 terraces authorised for road surfaces, 79 have voluntarily opted out or have not requested the obligatory platform.

Coexistence with local people

When the consolidation process concludes, Barcelona will have 6,375 terraces with permanent licences. The city strives to preserve the balance between this economic activity and local life and people’s hours of rest, with steps to ensure compliance with regulations and the various measures to reduce inconvenience and noise.