A wasteland called Rambla

For many, comparing the current desertification of the most touristy Rambla with what this long avenue was like a year ago must be difficult. Difficult, not to say impossible. Ninety percent of Barcelona residents have not set foot there for years. Of the few who used to stroll there, one must discount those who have avoided it since August 2017 due to the fear and anguish caused by the terrible terrorist attack. The part of the Rambla that goes from Plaza Catalunya to the sea, the rambla or the ramblas - it is said in plural to include the different sections - is today a tourist wasteland with restaurants, cafes, terraces, and shops closed or at half-mast. Tourists are scarce, not to say that they are already an endangered species. If the citizens of Barcelona and the rest of the country stopped going years ago, tired of abusive prices, by-products, overcrowding, and poor service, Covid-19 has, for now, badly wounded a model that everyone disapproved of but for which no one has yet been able to present a viable alternative.

In the populist vein of the city's current government team, slogans such as "we are recovering the Rambla for the citizens" often abound. For now, however, this is conspicuous by its absence, and it seems that the drastic drop in tourists is not being sufficiently exploited to act. It is true that a team led by former councilwoman and architect Itziar González has been appointed to remodel the Rambla. And we should not doubt that it will surely be a serious and careful proposal. But so far, all the actions of our capital's city council have been limited to the urban planning sphere. Surely there will be a comprehensive reform, but the team of Ms. Colau and Ms. Sanz never goes beyond that. Brick. Always brick.

It is a paradox that the person responsible for the "New Rambla," Itziar González, had to leave her position as councilwoman in the city council, threatened by a part of the city's sottogoverno that refused to abandon bad practices in licenses for tourist establishments. Vices that have much to do with how the criticized current model of the Rambla has been configured and which, from what we have seen so far, are still very much in force. With these materials, the former councilwoman of Jordi Hereu's team will have to make the basket.

We will be able to reform La Rambla, but if we don't delve deeply into the establishment model and the product served, it will be difficult to reverse the situation. It could even happen that the Rambla model extends to areas like El Born. We say that El Born is a successful area, threatened but successful, because the aboriginal people still make an appearance. Because the shops that resist have not, until now, opted for cheap souvenirs.

It's not about subjecting establishments to endless inspections and thus increasing the payrolls of chapter 2 of the city council, but about defining which establishments deserve an opening permit based on the quality and product they offer. It's not easy, but other cities like Amsterdam have shown that it is possible. The antinomy of La Rambla is Plaça Reial before Covid-19, a square that had once become a ground zero but which in recent years, thanks to the rebound in the quality of its establishments, has improved. You can even see some natives sitting in its restaurants.

If the city's government team only limits itself to containing the proliferation of restaurants, bars, and cafes but does not seek measures to set quality levels, the problem will persist. The new Plan de Usos for Ciutat Vella, which came into force after a wild moratorium, will neither improve quality nor solve the problem. It will basically desertify the ground floors of most properties. I remember that when I got my hands on it, the first thing that came to mind was to wonder if the city council wanted to convert all the ground floors of the city into lofts. But no. With the current regulations, very few new leisure and restaurant venues will open, but the problem of La Rambla will not be solved at all.

With La Rambla empty and the sangria and beer places with exorbitant prices and the defrosted tapas and paellas closed, an opportunity opens up for us to start over. I don't dare say that Barcelonans will return, but at least there is a new opportunity to civilize an important and emblematic space for the city.

Now, to make this change, to shake up La Rambla and make it a more civilized place, more livable for residents, ideas and perseverance are needed, and above all, interlocutors in the restaurant sector willing to change the model. The problem is that those who govern the city do not know how to do it, and the beneficiaries of the model are eagerly awaiting a vaccine that will bring back the flip-flop and methanol sangria model.