A news step has been reached in Barcelona’s revamp of Las Ramblas with an agreement between the city and the restaurant trade association to shrink the space occupied by street restaurants and turn more space over to pedestrians.
The redesign, which has been underway for several years and currently has paving and infrastructure work over almost all of its 1.2-km length, further reduces vehicle traffic, opens up more bicycle and pedestrian space and is aimed at creating a more friendly and dignified boulevard. The plan also aims at removing some of the souvenir kiosks and tacky/raunchy merchandise in favor of what the city has called ‘quality tourism.’
Under the agreement, the number of seats at restaurants on the pavement will be reduced by 16% to 322 for the length of the boulevard. New standards for quality and durability of materials as well as their placement is calculated to increase pedestrian space by 33%. Overhead coverings will have a uniform height, and the big photo menus that mark some will be gone.
The changes in the restaurants are to be implemented gradually, but are to be complete by February 2027, which is the projected completion of the whole Ramblas project.
