Who we are

The Directorate of Commerce, Catering and Consumer Affairs

Local commerce, bars and restaurants fill our neighbourhoods with life. Over the years, Barcelona has gradually consolidated its commercial model based on the values of proximity, responsibility and sustainability. Because Barcelona has over 61,000 shops and restaurants, the city’s streets are always bustling. Organised into shopping hubs, associations and guilds, they all work together to offer you a better service every day.

However, Barcelona’s local commerce model is much more than a great economic driving force. It is an essential factor for improving social cohesion, community life and the quality of public spaces in the city. The Directorate of Commerce, Catering and Consumer Affairs works to promote this model and offer specialised municipal services for the commerce and catering sector, strengthening its network of associations, invigorating shopping areas and providing support for emblematic shops. 

And now, through theMunicipal Consumer Information Office (OMIC) OMIC, we are also offering information, education and mediation on matters of consumerism and the relationships that are established between companies and consumers. 

 

Our goals

Barcelona City Council’s Directorate of Commerce, Catering and Consumer Affairs works to make commerce and catering a vital factor in the construction of a dynamic, enterprising and socially cohesive Barcelona. Therefore, our goals are to:

  • Promote the association model in the commerce sector.
  • Favour participation in the world of commerce.
  • To promote local commerce, especially in the city’s neighbourhoods, to avoid commercial desertification and urban degradation processes.
  • Defend the social value of commerce.
  • Reinforce the introduction of quality in commerce.
  • Reinforce dynamism, innovation and continual adaptation in the world of commerce, opting for entrepreneurship.
  • Guarantee the knowledge and training of retail traders, and promote the continual adaptation of regulations in order to provide a rapid response to the needs and priorities of the world of commerce at any given moment.
  • Through the OMIC, to inform, educate and mediate on matters of consumerism and the relationships that are established between companies and consumers. 

 

Our actions

  • We offer subsidies to associations and groups of retailers in the municipality.
  • We undertake commercial promotion campaigns and collaborate with those launched by retailers’ associations to promote city commerce.
  • We facilitate information and statistical data about Barcelona commerce through this website.
  • We provide information about regulations applicable to commerce.
  • We sign collaboration agreements with public and private bodies that are aimed at promoting local commerce.
  • Through the OMIC, we provide information and advice about the rights of consumers; we offer mediation and conciliation of conflicts between the two parties and collaborate with consumer associations, among others. 

Information to take into account

Where you can find us

Headquarters of Directorate of Commerce, Catering and Consumer Affairs

Ronda Sant Pau, 43-45

08015 Barcelona

 

Metro: L2, Sant Antoni. L3, Paral·lel

Busos: V11, D50, 120, 121

Parada Bicing: Ronda Sant Pau 51