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LIFE IN SPAIN

‘Like Tokyo’: Spain’s cities get unbearably busy over long December break

Barcelona police have been deployed to prevent people from clogging up traffic by taking selfies in the middle of the road, one of many examples of how Spanish city centres become unbearably crowded during the December holidays.

Published: 11 December 2023 11:31 CET
'Like Tokyo': Spain's cities get unbearably busy over long December break
Christmas crowds in Malaga. Photo: JORGE GUERRERO / AFP

Despite the rise in travel costs, throngs of Spaniards have travelled during the early December holiday, causing congestion in many of its major cities.

The December puente or ‘bridge’ began on December 6th with Constitution Day, followed by the Day of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th, with many taking the 7th off too and heading away for a five-day break making it a long weekend.

Spain’s General Directorate of Traffic estimated that at least eight million cars would be travelling on the roads over the holiday and that most of them took place between Tuesday December 5th and Friday December 8th, especially along the Mediterranean coast, central and southern Spain.

Madrid

Madrid City Council activated their ‘black’ and highest level of police monitoring in the streets of the capital due to the huge influx of extra people.

Local press reported human traffic jams, suffocating metro carriages, long queues just be served at bars and slow-pace moving around the city centre over the holiday. 

“It reminds me of those videos you see of hoards of people in Japanese cities crossing the street,” one tourist told Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

Barcelona

The situation was no different in Catalonia, where large crowds descended on the centre to see the Christmas lights and markets. Barcelona’s Passeig de Gràcia boulevard was particularly busy, with swathes of people stopping to watch the Christmas light display on the façade of Gaudí’s Casa Batlló. So many people stopped outside the building to take pictures of the display along with the Christmas lights that they caused several traffic jams and police had to intervene.  

Urban Police also had to warn the public to not stand in the middle of pedestrian crossings in order to take photos of the Christmas lights which decorate the avenue, endangering both themselves and the circulation of traffic. 

On Sunday, December 10th Barcelona City Council decided to remedy the situation by cordoning off the sides of the two side streets running parallel to Passeig de Gràcia in addition to calling up more police reinforcements.

People take selfie pictures with Christmas lights in the background, in Barcelona. Photo: Pau BARRENA / AFP
 

Seville

In the Andalusian capital up, to 300 local police officers were deployed to monitor the city centre and keep the crowds in check. Online newspaper El Español described the scenes in the city as “a human river that fills any corner” and reported on the long queues and extra noise.

The Seville City Council confirmed that although very busy there were no major incidents.

Málaga

In Málaga city, famed for its Christmas light displays, local media reported that cafes and restaurants were completely full and long queues to wait for tables becoming very frequent.

The hospitality sector meanwhile confirmed that they are breaking billing and employment records. Business meals and the appeal of Christmas lights are also mentioned among the causes of the boom. According to recent stats, Málaga is now the third province in Spain, after Madrid and Barcelona, to employ the most people in the hospitality industry, more than 103,000.

Asturias

Not even typically quiet northern Spain could escape the crowds during the holidays with authorities in the region of Asturias reporting many hotels close to being full and blaming the throngs on the good weather of above 20C, making it warmer than the Balearic Islands, Valencia and Andalusia over the long weekend.

But it wasn’t just cities such as the capital of Oviedo that were packed, as two of its Parador hotels – Parador de Corias and Parador de Cangas de Onis said they were at capacity. Director, Daniel González from Parador de Corias said that “the weekend and Friday we were at 100 percent, and the previous days, above 90 percent”.

Toledo

In historic Toledo, there was a tale of two cities with residents and members of the political party PSOE, complaining about the hordes over the break, stating that there was a complete “collapse” as well as “problems – of mobility – seen in Santa Bárbara, the Paseo de la Rosa, the Azarquiel bridge, La Cava, Reconquista avenue, Madrid avenue and other roads that have been saturated”.

The Toledo council of PP and Vox, on the other hand,  congratulated themselves on the “historic packed house” that the city experienced during this pre-Christmas long weekend. Mayor Juan José also praised the local police “for their excellent coordination work and their speed in making Toledo a safer city”.

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PROPERTY

BBQs, nudity and plants: What are the balcony rules in Spain?

Though many people hang laundry, plants, and flags from their balcony, in Spain the rules on what you can and can't do on 'el balcón' are not well-known.

Published: 8 May 2024 17:13 CEST
BBQs, nudity and plants: What are the balcony rules in Spain?

Imagine the scene: you’ve just bought or signed the lease on your dream apartment. It’s bright and airy, with plenty of space, and even has a nice-sized balcony to get some fresh air on. You can do whatever you want there, right? 

Not exactly. In Spain the rules on what you can and can’t do on a balcony (even if it’s private) depend on a few factors, namely the regional and local rules, as well as getting the approval of the building’s homeowner’s association – known in Spain as la comunidad.

Some of them might just surprise you.

READ ALSO: ‘La comunidad’: What property owners in Spain need to know about homeowners’ associations

There are four main things or activities on balconies that could potentially put you on the wrong side of the local rules and even get you fined: barbecues, plants, laundry, and flags.

In all cases (even if you don’t think you’re breaking any rules) you’ll generally need to consider two things: firstly, does this affect or change the building’s façade? And secondly: will la comunidad allow it?

Barbecues

In Spain there is no national law prohibiting barbecues on private property, so in principle it is legal as long as the barbecue is lit in a private space such as your own balcony, garden or terrace, and not a shared space.

Often in Spain, the roof (usually referred to as la terrazza) is a shared space people use for storage and hanging their laundry, so be sure to check with the comunidad.

In terms of your own balcony, however, although there’s no law saying outright you can’t have a barbecue, you’ll need to take into account the rules and regulations in force in each locality or region. There may also be specific rules within the building that long-term homeowners have developed over the years.

As we will see, many of these low-level regulations are delegated to local governments and town halls in Spain, so the answer to these sorts of questions is usually: it depends where you are.

However, according to Article 7 of Spain’s Horizontal Property Law, “the owner and the occupant of the flat or premises are not allowed to carry out in it or in the rest of the property activities prohibited in bylaws, which are harmful to the property or which contravene the general provisions on annoying, unhealthy, harmful, dangerous or illegal activities.”

This basically gives your neighbours the right to complain about noise, smells, smoke and any possible fire risk in or around their building, which barbecues could plausibly fall under.

As with co-living anywhere in the world, regardless of the regional or local rules, employ some common sense: be reasonable, listen to neighbour’s concerns and take up any disputes with the President of la comunidad.

READ ALSO: What you need to know before having a barbecue in Spain

Plants

Again, with plants the responsibility falls on each local authority to set the rules. In Spain, most regions and town halls state that, as long as the architectural or structural elements of the building are not changed or weakened in any way, putting plants on your balcony is permitted.

However, note that many terraces and balconies do have maximum weight regulations that must be respected in order to guarantee their safety, which is 200kg per square metre. If this figure is exceeded (and it can be proved) you could theoretically be fined.

Laundry

Laundry lines criss-crossing the streets might be one of the more picturesque images of Spanish life, but the people doing it might actually be breaking the rules.

How do you know? You guessed it, it depends where you. You’ll need to check with your local authority on this one, though municipal regulations in Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia all regulate hanging laundry from your balcony, which is again outlined in the Horizontal Property Law.

This principally seems to be because it affects the façade of the building (a common theme when it comes to balcony rules in Spain).

In places with rules about hanging laundry from balconies, you could be fined up to 750 euros if you don’t comply with the rules.

However, according to Foto Casa, even if you live in an area where there are no bans or penalties against hanging laundry on the balcony, you’ll still likely need the permission of la comunidad.

READ MORE: Spain’s weirdest laws that foreigners should know about

What about flags?

Whether it be the Spanish flag, the Catalan, Valencian or Andalusian flags, or LGBT, trade union or football team flags, flags proudly hanging from balconies is another mainstay of Spanish life.

It’s also one of the more controversial ones too, especially within comunidad meetings. Hanging flags on the balcony, as well as allegedly altering the aesthetics and security of the building (the same concern as with laundry) often has ideological connotations that can cause conflict.

Again, as with laundry, hanging flags on the balcony will require the approval of all the owners within the community, something that must be agreed at a meeting, as per the Horizontal Property Law.

However, if the flag is placed inside the property, as it is a private property, fellow homeowners cannot oppose it, even if it is visible from the street, according to Foto Casa.

Nudity 

Article of 185 of Spain’s Penal Code only considers being naked at home to be obscene exhibitionism and sexual provocation if it affects minors, in which case it is punishable with a fine or up to a year in prison.

Therefore, you could technically sunbathe shirtless or naked on your balcony in most cases without getting into trouble, although it won’t necessarily go down well with your neighbours and/or flatmates and you be reprimanded for it.

READ ALSO: Can you go shirtless or wear a bikini in the street in Spain?

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