Throughout 2024 the agents of the Urban Guard of Barcelona imposed 341 fines For an infraction that has little to do with circular In an incorrect way or dirty the streets. No. The reason that (on average) made them get the ball almost daily was to meet neighbors who walked to their dogs without strap in areas that are not allowed to do so. The figure is interesting because 2024 was the first year in which the new restriction was applied.
It is not known how much 341 fines were collected, but the norm provides penalties of Between 100 and 2,400 euros.
The data: 341 fines. The figure He has revealed it The newspaper of Catalonia and It is confirmed By Betevé: Throughout 2024 the Urban Guard imposed 341 fines for people who walked their dogs loose through the streets, parks and other public spaces of the city. The data is interesting for two reasons. The first, its number. In Barcelona there are many dogs, it is estimated that Between 102,600 and more than 180,000depending on the source that is handled, but still 341 sanctions continue to assume almost one per day.
Premiering ordinance. The second reason is that 2024 was the first year in which Barcelona applied its New Ordinance on pets, in which among other issues it is required when and where dogs can be released.
Do not respect it translates into sanctions ranging from 100 to 300 euros or even They reach 2,400 In severe cases, such as walking a dangerous dog without a strap or buzal. The City Council began applying these corrections to offenders in December 2023when the moratorium that had applied until then.
New sanctions, old norm. Actually the regulations on the pets of the Catalan capital is quite previous. The ordinance of protection, possession and sale of animals (OPTV) It was approved in Xabier Trias timesbut its application was accompanied by a conditioned moratorium to be resolved by certain slope fringes, such as the famous (and controversial) “Civic and Responsible Tendency Card”.
Another pending measures was the creation of what was called “shared use zones” (ZUC), areas in which dogs could be loose certain hours a day. The idea, as its name indicates, is that in them the pets in freedom, their owners and other passersby.
And how was it? The “Civic Tenure” card He did not go aheadbut in March 2023 The Barcelona City Council announced the final approval, the decree that defined the 225 spaces in the city for dogs, including the ZUC.
Of course, the local government already warned that the new guidelines would take nine months to enter into force, which would not move into practice until December of that year. The exact date was on the 18th. From that moment on the police He started fine To the owners of the dogs that walk to their pets without respecting the ordinance.
More than 900,000 m2 for walking. According to the calculations, then by the City Council, in Barcelona there are more than 900,000 square meters for the dog recreation, sum of the 116 “Pipicanes” That already existed, the 109 ZUC areas and the beach of Levant. The result, about 5.4 m2 per dog.
“The threshold of a minimal recreation zone in each neighborhood is increased and it is achieved that 95% of the citizens who live with dog can have a space less than 10 minutes from home,” He presumed the session in 2023.
In The 109 ZUC Dogs can walk unleashed, but adjusting to certain rules and only during certain time slots. The measure did not completely convince the owners of the dogs, who in 2023 complained that the number of areas without a strap was very limited. “They are poorly thought. There are concentrations of dogs well above the desirable,” He warned to The country A spokeswoman for Spanish.
Less complaints. The first year of application of the ordinance and activation of ZUC areas in Barcelona leaves more than that balance of 341 fines. In fact The newspaper Precise that there is another much more positive reading: a sensitive fall in the number of complaints recorded by the presence of feces and urine in the streets. Analyzing equivalent periods of 2023 and 2024 verified that 4,341 to 3,955 was passed. In addition to brand new ZUC, the Consistory has decided to distribute bags and bottles for the urine.
And in other cities? Barcelona is not the only city that has regulated how and where to walk pets. In Madrid for example The Ordinance It details that in public spaces animals must be accompanied and “driven by chain or resistant cord.” The norm It allows them to be loose, but only in areas limited by the City Council itself or in parks and gardens, although respecting schedules that change slightly winter to summer.
Zaragoza is another example. The general rule It is that the dogs are subjects, although “exceptions” are contemplated, such as the spaces prepared by the Consistory or the landscaped parks and squares with some extension and have the approval of the local authorities. The owners must also respect certain schedules. As for sanctions, Barcelona Nor is it the only city that It has fined Already to pet owners for leaving them loose without respecting the municipal ordinance.
Images | Leah Hetteberg (Unspash) and Babak Habibi (UNSPLASH)
In Xataka | The domestication of cats remains a mystery. But we are closer to knowing where and why it happened
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings