The team of the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, agreed this Tuesday to a new reduction in the terrace rate compared to the calculation presented by his own government last week. An agreement by which they sign peace after years of constant anger with former mayor Ada Colau in a declaration agreed by the council and the Restoration Guild. “The agreement with the Guild ends the public disagreement that the sector has maintained since the approval of the increase in the terrace tariff at the end of 2019. “The two parties mutually recognize the agreed commitment and generosity,” says the text from the city council and the employers’ association.
The relationship between the government of Barcelona and the Restoration Guild has been characterized by constant conflict over the last eight years (during Ada Colau’s term as mayor), despite successive concessions from the government. Starting with the restrictive terrace ordinance passed during the administration of Xavier Trias and to which the commonwealth had to apply, which ultimately led to flexibilization in 2017. However, in 2019, Colau wanted to increase the price of the terrace fee for bars and restaurants. To be approved, the tariffs had to be reduced by a third of the planned amount. With the pandemic, restaurateurs, like most sectors of the economy, had a difficult time, but they managed to consolidate the chairs and tables placed on the street and added a bonus of 75% of the cost of the terrace tax for four years.
Last week, the managing director of Jaume Collboni announced his intention to cancel the discount and recalculate the tariff: based on a formula that takes into account the location of the premises and the number of tables. Of the two million euros annually that the city’s restaurateurs pay with the bonus, this has increased to 5.8 million, explained the deputy mayor for economic affairs, Jordi Valls. Still far from the eight million that would be reached if the 2019 regulation were applied, which, however, was not fully implemented due to the pandemic, he added. The Restoration Guild showed its disagreement and met with Valls this Tuesday at noon and announced the result: they will pay 4.6 million. It is twice what they paid with the bonus, but less than the 5.8 million that the deputy mayor said. The difference is a recalculation of the sections (of tables and locations) that were originally explained by the manager. When asked by the council about the validity of the agreement or whether subsequent increases would be considered, he replied “no.”
While the mayor was visiting his counterpart in Madrid, the terraces were the subject of a debate this Tuesday during the urban planning commission, where the ERC municipal group asked about the expired files of sanctions against 33 bars and restaurants in Ciutat Vella. who sanctioned Colau last term and announced that he would revoke their terrace license. District councilor Albert Batlle blamed the Commons for the process of filing last June, before the inauguration of Collboni and his team. However, he assured that “the expiration of the files does not mean impunity for the perpetrators.” “We will reopen the files and proceed with the appropriate determination,” he assured. In his response, Councilor Guille López of Barcelona responded en comú Batlle by ensuring that the files did not expire with Colau in government, but with the new Collboni government.
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