Barcelona’s outdoor markets are heading into an uncertain autumn as many licences expire this October. The permits, along with the rules governing these businesses, date back 15 years when EU regulations forced all active licences to be extended.
Since then, the rules have changed. In 2017, the Catalan government approved the Commerce, Services and Fairs Law requiring all Catalan municipalities to have their own regulations. However, Barcelona still hasn’t passed its local ordinance, meanwhile stall holders with licences extended in 2010 must now adapt to the Catalan law’s requirements.
What changes for market traders
Markets that previously operated collectively through associations now need individual licences for each stall. All traders must register as sellers, dealers or artisans. Current licence renewals will last 15 years, whilst new licences will only be granted through public tender.
These requirements clash with how many markets actually work. José María Ríos, president of the Plaça Reial coin and stamp market association, says he feels “defenceless against the council”. His market has operated for over 130 years every Sunday, bringing together collectors in the Gothic quarter. “In other cities like Madrid, they’ve regulated non-sedentary sales but exempted historic markets like Plaza Mayor,” he argues.
Problems with the 15-year commitment
Ríos doesn’t understand why he needs to register as a dealer for what he calls a “cultural and recreational activity”. Many stall holders are elderly people who can’t commit to 15 years, he explains. “The rigidity of the 15-year concession system, designed for standard commercial activities, doesn’t fit the living, changing and cultural nature of a market like ours.”
Drap-Art, which runs a Saturday craft market also in Plaça Reial promoting recycled art, shares similar concerns. President Tanja Grass worries individual licences will let incompatible stalls set up alongside them. “In three years it’ll all be resale products,” she laments. The association is also troubled by losing the substitute holder option, which helped artists who tour or work on other projects for months.
Barcelona’s farmers markets, whose stalls vary by seasonal produce, are worried about the bureaucracy. “They’re asking for documentation more suited to fairs than farmers markets,” say sources from the Coordinadora de Mercats de Pagès de Barcelona. These agricultural markets can breathe slightly easier though, as their licences don’t expire until 2029.
When will the new ordinance arrive
The Plaça Reial markets’ licences expire this October, giving traders until year-end to update documentation and request new permits. Council sources say the new non-sedentary sales ordinance text is “ready”. Economic Promotion Commissioner Nadia Quevedo told city groups they’ll be called together “as soon as possible” and that the council has met with sector representatives and all ten districts to analyse local particularities.
However, there’s still no date set for approving the long-awaited local ordinance.
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