News
Barcelona prepares a fund to save historic shops at risk of closure
If an iconic shop in Barcelona is at risk of disappearing, the City Council wants to have a new tool to try to preserve it. The city is preparing a fund to buy strategic premises and keep their commercial activity going.
A shutter coming down for good can change much more than just a shop window. Barcelona wants to prevent certain historic or especially important shops in its neighbourhoods from disappearing and being replaced by businesses with no connection to the local commercial fabric.
To this end, the City Council will set up a fund before the end of 2026 to acquire emblematic or strategic commercial premises. The mayor, Jaume Collboni, has also announced that the council hopes to close a first deal before the end of the year.
Can the City Council buy a shop to save it?
That is precisely the idea. The fund would allow the council to acquire certain premises when their history, uniqueness, or importance to a neighbourhood justifies preserving the activity that takes place there.
The aim is not to buy up shops across the board. The approach would be selective and assessed case by case, focusing on establishments and commercial areas considered strategic. The model is inspired by experiences in cities such as Paris.
Photo by GaudiLab / Shutterstock / FOTODOM
The key lies in pre-emption and withdrawal rights
For the plan to work, there is still a legal piece to fit into place. The Generalitat has set up a working group to study what legislative changes would allow Catalan city councils to exercise the right of pre-emption and withdrawal on certain commercial premises.
Simply put, this mechanism would give the administration the option to have priority in certain purchase and sale operations and acquire the property under the terms set for the transaction.
The intention is not to extend this right to any shop that comes onto the market. It would apply only to a limited percentage of establishments considered strategic or emblematic.
The map will start by identifying which shops need protection
The Generalitat is already working with 22 county capitals to identify commercial areas, draw up inventories of empty premises, and gather data to help detect areas where intervention may be needed.
In Barcelona, the stated aim is to preserve shops that play a role in the daily life of neighbourhoods and prevent certain areas from losing commercial diversity.
In this way, a historic shop at risk of disappearing would no longer depend solely on finding a new owner willing to keep it going. If the new mechanism goes ahead and the establishment meets the criteria, the City Council itself could step in to try to maintain its activity.