Transportation
Barcelona Is Targeting Billboards It Sees as 'Pollution'
The new rule is part of a wider city pushback against perceived commercial exploitation.
Public advertising is pollution and it needs to be curbed. So insists a new policy from Barcelona, which will substantially cut back on how much advertising City Hall permits in public places. In a bid to make Barcelona a more attractive, less aesthetically cluttered place, street advertising in the city will be reduced by 20 percent in July 2016.
This reduction won’t come in the form of a ban—the city will simply reduce the number of places where advertisements can be placed. Specifically, the city will remove 14 percent of its so-called MUPIS, double-sided billboards that stand in many streets and rise to roughly 10 feet. Some of the billboards that remain will eventually feature advertising on just one side.