Barcelona inspection finds 242 infractions at 23 Gràcia food shops, 11 closed provisionally

The inspection

Barcelona City Council carried out a 'multi-inspection' on Thursday, 29 October 2026 at 23 food establishments in the Vila de Gràcia neighbourhood of the Gràcia district. Inspectors recorded 242 infractions of various kinds, and the council announced the results in a statement on Tuesday, 3 November. The checks covered self-service shops, 24-hour supermarkets, other food retailers and greengrocers, as part of the Pla Endreça programme. The council ordered 11 provisional closures, which it linked to electrical irregularities and pest infestations.

Who took part and what was checked

Around one hundred officers, inspectors and staff from several bodies took part in the operation. These included the Guardia Urbana, the city's public health agency, the regional labour inspectorate, the municipal tax institute, the Tax Agency, Endesa and the National Police Corps. The city council's Direction of Inspection Services and the Gràcia district office also took part. Teams checked whether premises met urban landscape rules, their licence conditions and health and hygiene standards. They also checked tax payments, the contractual situation of workers, how waste was handled and whether electricity connections had been tampered with.

What inspectors found

The most common finding was 99 infractions linked to licences, meaning activities different from those the licence allows. Urban landscape rules produced 52 infractions, while public health and waste treatment each recorded 23. Municipal taxes and state taxes each accounted for 15 infractions, and labour and social security rules for 10. Five infractions concerned the occupation of public space.

Licence activities99

Urban landscape52

Public health23

Waste treatment23

Municipal taxes15

State taxes15

Labour and social security10

Public space occupation5

Licence activities

99 infractions

Urban landscape

52 infractions

Public health

23 infractions

Waste treatment

23 infractions

Municipal taxes

15 infractions

State taxes

15 infractions

Labour and social security

10 infractions

Public space occupation

5 infractions

Data from the article text

The council cited nine closures for electricity fraud or irregular supply and three for pest infestations, while its total for provisional closures was 11.

Political response

Laia Bonet, the city's first deputy mayor, said establishments of this kind affect coexistence and push out local shops by piling up infractions. She said the municipal government suspended new licences for such establishments before summer. Bonet defended the approach and insisted that the council would stay firm.

“We will continue to be forceful because these infractions affect coexistence and safety.”

She linked the infractions to both public coexistence and public safety.

Campaign record

This was the 17th joint inspection the council has run in the current term, carried out under Pla Endreça and the municipal Plan Integral de Inspección. Since November 2023 the council has inspected 682 establishments through these operations. Those operations recorded 5,097 infractions and led to 110 precautionary measures, such as seizures or seals. These figures cover the whole period since November 2023, not this inspection alone.