Collboni celebrates Bike Day by riding on a street banned by the city council

BarcelonaIf Barcelona’s refereeing were more like a tennis match, the city’s mayor, Jaume Colboni, would have made two unforced errors in a short time. Or, if you prefer a soccer metaphor, score two goals in a row. After the incident with Alexia Putellas while celebrating the Women’s Champions League in Barcelona – Colboni ended up apologizing after a video went viral in which he almost tore a Barcelona shirt bearing the city’s mayor’s name – and now the socialist leader has taken the lead on a new coupon: this time on the occasion of World Bicycle Day.

The city’s mayor posted a video clip through his networks encouraging Barcelona residents to move around the city on bicycles. During the video, he can be seen riding a Bicing bike next to sports advisor, David Escudi, on the road that runs from the beach to the city hall. So far, everything is fine. But the problems the mayor faces come when it’s the council’s turn. To get there, photos show him riding along Carrier Avenue, one of 25 points in Ciutat Vela where his government banned cycling last January. From then on, cyclists theoretically have to get out of the car and make the trip on foot.

As part of the Endressa Plan, one of the measures implemented by the Colboni government in the field of mobility was the installation of new signs in different parts of the city indicating which streets users of bicycles or vehicles for personal mobility – such as scooters – must access outside their car. Among these roads is Carrier Avenue, where the mayor was photographed cycling on the occasion of World Bicycle Day.

This measure has been controversial since its inception. In fact, shortly after the premiere of this new sign, Ciutat Vela’s councillor, Albert Battle, opened the door to its removal. Cyclists criticized that they were forced to get off the vehicle all the time on streets where cars and small trucks are allowed to pass at certain times. When asked by the ERC, Batley admitted to the Environment, Urban Planning, Mobility and Housing Committee in January that the region planned to “evaluate the process for a period of time and review, if necessary, any street signs allowing cars.”

Reviews of cyclists

So far, this slip has cost Colboni criticism from the city’s cycling community – who consider that Colboni’s video shows the “inconsistency” of the rule prohibiting the circulation of bicycles on some streets – and from Gotic residents, who have demanded the final withdrawal of the sign.