The Badalona City Council closed the informal parking lot in front of the Rodalies station on June 23, as it is designated as a green zone. A month later, beach businesses report a significant drop in customers.
On June 23, the Badalona City Council permanently closed the parking lot located in front of the Rodalies station, next to the beach, as the land is urbanistically classified as a green zone. Just a month later, the beach bars in the area are already feeling the impact: customer traffic has dropped significantly, especially on weekends.
At the Karamba beach bar, right in front of the old parking lot, Moha, one of the workers, explains that "the workload has decreased a lot on Saturdays and Sundays." He compares this summer's customer flow to last year's and attributes much of the decline to the disappearance of the parking, which had space for nearly 200 vehicles.
The same feeling is echoed at Banys La Pista, a space where water sports enthusiasts store surfboards, kayaks, and other equipment. Josep, one of the workers, acknowledges that many users found it much more convenient to access when they could park just a few meters away. "We have also noticed a drop in work, especially from customers coming to pick up their boards," he notes.
The closure has also disrupted Josep's daily routine. Previously, he could drive, drop his children off at school, and continue to work. Now he has had to reorganise his travel and use the bus.
Enrique Lara, head of the Mobility and Accessibility Table of the Federation of Neighbourhood Associations of Badalona (FAVB), believes that the closure is a consequence of complying with urban regulations rather than a political decision. Nevertheless, he acknowledges that it is a measure that generates discontent among the public. "It's a topic that won't please anyone," he admits, although he understands that maintaining a parking lot on land classified as a green zone could lead to legal issues.
Before the definitive closure, the City Council had already eliminated the payment for the old blue zone, considering that it could no longer charge for parking on protected land. The lot now remains closed, awaiting transformation into a space for sports activities.
José Luis, a retiree who has lived in Badalona his entire life, recalls how this corner of the coast has changed over the years. "First it was free, then they made it a blue zone to encourage vehicle turnover, because some restaurants complained that people left their cars all day, and then they made it free again," he explains. "It used to fill up a lot and people took advantage of it," he adds.
The closure of the parking lot particularly affects beachgoers and athletes who come to the beach by car. Many of them used to park in this lot for free or by paying the blue zone fee, and now they must look for alternatives on nearby streets or use public transport. The beach bars, which largely depend on local tourism and weekends, fear that the drop in customers will worsen in August, the month with the highest tourist influx on the Badalona coast.
From the FAVB, Enrique Lara insists that the decision is legal and necessary to avoid urban penalties. "The City Council could not continue to allow parking on land that the Metropolitan General Plan designates as a green zone," he explains. However, he acknowledges that "the measure has come without a clear alternative for parking for beach users, which has generated discontent."
So far, the council has not announced any measures to alleviate the lack of parking spaces in the area. The lot, which functioned as informal parking for years, will become a sports space, although there is no date yet for the start of construction. In the meantime, the beach bars and residents of Badalona hope that the City Council will seek solutions that balance compliance with urban regulations with the mobility needs of beach users.
You may also like
