The nightlife venues of Front Marítim in Barceloneta generated in 2022 an economic impact of 165 million euros and a tax collection of 32.7 million. This is indicated by a report prepared by Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC) at the initiative of Fecasarm and Spain Nightlife. The employers' associations commissioned it with the aim of analyzing the impact of nightlife in the city from an economic, social, and international perspective.
To carry out this analysis, the impact of the venues that make up the Associació Front Marítim (AFM) has been taken as a reference, which includes establishments of international projection such as Opium, Pacha, Carpe Diem, and Shoko. The report highlights the role of the nightlife sector as a socioeconomic engine for the Catalan capital, and values it as one of Barcelona's great attractions for international and congress tourism.
The report concludes that the Front Marítim venues created 3,143 direct, indirect, and induced jobs last year. According to the document, for every 100,000 international clients who visit these establishments, 13 jobs are created in the Catalan economy. "The AFM companies are, within the nightlife industry, those with the highest turnover and the largest workforce in all of Catalonia," according to PwC's Director of Strategy & Economics, Anna Merino.
The study also highlights measures such as investment in security and the application of protocols, especially to prevent sexual violenceThe Front Marítim is the third most visited tourist enclave in Barcelona, according to the report. With 2.1 million annual tourists, it is only surpassed by Gaudí's two most emblematic works: the Sagrada Família and Park Güell. These figures imply that 21.6% of tourists visiting the Catalan capital pass through the Front Marítim.
The document also analyzes the social impact of nightlife and its effects on civility and security, and concludes that regulated and responsible nightlife activity can contribute to improving the quality of life of residents in the area and visitors. In fact, the year in which the most neighborhood complaints were received in this environment was 2021, when venues were closed due to the Covid pandemic.
The report also highlights measures such as investment in security and the implementation of protocols, especially to prevent sexual violence. The study, with data between 2014 and 2022 obtained from leisure aggregators and interviews and surveys, corroborates that "nightlife is an indisputably key piece of the city's international projection," according to the general secretary of Fecasarm, Joaquim Boadas.
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