Barcelona Shops Lower Shutters and Board Windows During General Strike
Shops in central Barcelona stayed open behind half-lowered shutters during the general strike, while public transport stopped after minimum services.
The centre of Barcelona spent the morning of the general strike in an unusual state: few people on the streets, much less traffic and almost no public transport once the rush hour had passed. Shops largely stayed open, but many did so with their shutters half down, according to the Catalan outlet El Nacional.
By around quarter to eleven in the morning the mood was calm. Business owners were still on alert for whatever might happen later in the day.
Shutters at head height and boarded windows
Along Carrer de Fontanella and Carrer de Pelai, around Plaça de Catalunya and on the first stretch of Passeig de Gràcia, the most common sight was an open shop with its shutter pulled down to just above customers’ heads. Security guards stood at the entrances of many businesses. Shop windows had been covered as a precaution, a measure shopkeepers had already tried on earlier days of protest because of the threat of vandalism, which if it came could happen in the evening.
Some large stores chose not to raise their shutters at all, among them El Corte Inglés and Urban Outfitters on Plaça de Catalunya. Leroy Merlin and Media Markt on Carrer de Fontanella kept their windows covered with wood, yet shoppers could still walk in.
Spokespeople for Pimec, a Catalan business organization, said that morning that some shops had changed how they operate in order to get through the day. El Nacional’s own observation on the ground was that open shops saw few customers and ran at half speed. Restaurants and cafes were mostly open in the morning but far emptier than usual. In the middle of Plaça de Catalunya, the protest camp that has been there marked the day, and traffic around the square was cut off completely.
Mobility took the biggest hit
The paper described mobility as the main casualty of the day. Private traffic dropped sharply, and public transport all but disappeared after the minimum-service period, set at 25%, ended at 9.30. Road cuts at several entrances to the city added to the difficulty of getting around. Early in the morning, Avinguda Meridiana had no intercity buses at all.
TMB, Barcelona’s bus and metro operator, said the minimum services on the Metro ran as planned. On the bus network a few vehicles fewer than planned left their depots, because buses from the Triangle depot did not go out to run their scheduled routes.
Why it matters for the city centre
The centre of Barcelona is heavily geared toward services, so shops and restaurants set the tone for how the strike looks to anyone walking through it. El Nacional notes that turnout in this part of the city may be hard to read, because office workers can work from home and because the lack of public transport and the road cuts made it harder for people to get in at all.
For residents and visitors, the practical picture that morning was simple: shops and restaurants open but quiet, a city centre with little traffic, and buses and metro limited to the minimum service that had ended earlier in the morning.
Sources: go.eln.cat, El Nacional
