ERC proposes to safeguard Barcelona's major festivals against neighbourhood complaints

The municipal group of ERC in the Barcelona City Council will bring a request to the next committee to ensure the celebration of major festivals. The initiative arises after the controversies of summer and autumn.

The municipal group of Esquerra Republicana will ask the Barcelona City Council to guarantee the celebration of the city's major and popular festivals. The proposal will be debated in the Social Rights, Culture and Sports Committee on Tuesday, 20 October, and is presented by the councillor and spokesperson for ERC, Jordi Castellana.

The request comes after a festive cycle marked by several controversies. The most tense was at the beginning of the Gràcia major festival, with complaints from some neighbours about noise and the sabotage of the venue of the Comissió de Festa Major del Carrer La Perla. In Sarrià, this same October, there was also controversy over musical activities at the Pati d'en Marcel de la Casa Orlandai.

According to the text of the proposal, the municipal government should ensure the conditions to organise these celebrations and preserve their traditional, participatory, and community character. Furthermore, it calls for avoiding that isolated and minority complaints or disproportionate restrictions jeopardise the continuity of the festivals.

“The major and popular festivals are one of the clearest examples of the popular culture of the neighbourhoods of our city, that culture which creates community, networks, and security in an increasingly individualistic and closed world.”

Castellana also demands that the council provides the organising entities with the resources, instruments, and municipal support necessary to develop the festive activities. The problem particularly affects the neighbours of the streets that are decorated each year, where coexistence with noise has become more contentious.

It is worth noting that, at the beginning of August, at least six streets that are usually decorated received requests from neighbours and merchants asking to cancel night activities. The ERC proposal will be voted on in the committee on 20 October, and its outcome will determine whether the municipal government takes a formal commitment to the neighbourhood festivals.