Amunt persianes (Raise the shutters) is the name of the new strategy for giving a boost to the ground-floor premises launched by Barcelona City Council.  This measure aims to boost economic activity and employment of the city’s ground-floor premises, following the impact of the crisis generated by Covid-19.

The council will invest a total of 17 million Euros in this strategy during 2021 to revitalize all those ground floor premises that are empty - currently a total of 5,300, according to data from major real estate portals - as well as premises that already present economic activity to avoid more closures and to foster their occupation.

The main measure, and for which 16 million Euros will be allocated, consists of the public procurement of the empty ground-floor premises, of between 60 and 1,000 square metres, which will later form part of a portfolio of ground-floor premises of official rental protection so that people who want to boost their business have a space to do so.

The uses of these premises on the ground floor that the City Council will acquire in the coming months will be very specific. Specifically, the premises acquired will be used for shops and local services; entrepreneurship and creativity; education, training and research; work centres; social and care facilities; logistics; and in Social and Solidarity Economy initiatives.

Parallel to this, and for the past few days, you can apply for the Impulsem el que fas (“We boost what you do”) grants of up to 50,000 Euros, for projects that contribute to the socio-economic development of their surroundings and that contribute to maintaining or growing an existing business activity, moving an economic activity from the first floor to the ground floor, or promoting a start-up initiative.

Amunt persianes is an innovative and global measure. An urgent initiative with a long-term strategy that aims to foster commercial activity in each and every one of the neighbourhoods and districts of Barcelona.