The PSC has managed to approve a proposition in the plenary session of the Barcelona City Council to regulate local businesses and unique businesses. The Deputy Mayor for Economic Promotion, Raquel Gil, has asked the City Council to urge the central Government to modify the urban lease law to moderate price increases in commercial rents. Gil requests a price limit on commercial rents in areas “especially affected by processes of sustained rent increases” to guarantee the permanence of small businesses. The proposal has been approved with the votes of the governing party, ERC and BComú. The right-wing parties -Junts, PP and Vox- have voted against the proposal.
Joana Ortega, from Junts, has accused Collboni’s municipal government of not having acted and developed municipal competencies before reaching this request with which, in her opinion, the PSC is trying to pass the buck. BComú has voted in favor of the socialist proposal, although councilor Pau Gonzàlez has also criticized the municipal government’s actions and dared to assure that the socialist request is only to cover up some of the PSC’s weaknesses in the latest municipal barometer.
ERC has voted in favor of regulating commercial rents in the most strained areas. Even so, councilor Jordi Coronas has criticized the government’s attitude: “Governing is not just making announcements or placing the logo of the European capital of local commerce. Governing is not living Groundhog Day.” On behalf of the PP, Daniel Sirera, criticized: “Where there used to be local businesses, now there are cannabis shops, 24-hour supermarkets that violate regulations…”. Vox has also voted against: “The PSOE’s failure in housing will be studied in books and now they want to do the same in businesses.”
In fact, the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, in an interview with ACN, expressed his support for regulating rents for emblematic and neighborhood businesses. The mayor assured, in the interview, that the different land use plans have contributed to a “balance” in the commercial offer, but admitted that it has not prevented the loss of many premises and businesses. Collboni assured that rent regulation would be a way to help premises that have to face “sharp increases” in prices when ownership changes or the contract ends.
On the other hand, the plenary session of the Barcelona City Council urged the municipal government this Friday to immediately implement economic compensation and tax bonuses for residents and businesses affected by long-term works, a measure that it asks to apply “urgently” to those affected by the Putxet sinkhole. The initiative, promoted by Junts and approved unanimously, calls for the creation of a Municipal Contingency Fund for Commercial Emergencies, permanently endowed with a budget, to activate automatic aid and “with minimal bureaucracy” as soon as serious damage occurs.
From the municipal government, councilor Raquel Gil has assured that the proposal “fits with the measures on which the executive is already working” to protect local commerce as a “strategic asset and a factor of social cohesion.” Gil has announced that the municipal government is preparing a global package of measures and recalled that the mayor, Jaume Collboni, already announced a “specific support plan” for businesses affected by the L9 works.
Aid for air conditioning
On the other hand, the plenary session of the Barcelona City Council has approved two propositions to allocate subsidies for air conditioning private homes given that “climate inequality” has been detected in the midst of a heatwave.
The first of the approved propositions -with the vote against the PP and Vox- was that of the Comunes, who request “a plan to improve air conditioning in vulnerable homes with an annual allocation of ten million euros sustained for at least four years” to install heat pump or aerothermal systems in 20,000 homes. The Comunes ask for the creation of an air conditioning office to manage this aid.
The second approved proposition -with the abstention of the PP and Vox- was from ERC and involves promoting the Casa Fresca program, also with aid to improve thermal comfort in vulnerable homes. A program of aid to install air conditioners, heat pumps…, aid for electricity bills during heat peaks and to ensure that climate shelters are permanently open.
Read more Body announces the reactivation of the entity that will settle customer claims against banks