The new municipal regulation that prohibits -both Friday and Saturdays- the visits of organized groups of more than 15 people in the Santa Caterina Market of Barcelona entered yesterday into force. In the morning, the only guard of the infrastructure knew that his function began to acquire, each time, more attribution. And soon he had to show his skills according to the new regulations. “At 9.00 in the morning a group of more than 90 people has been presented and I have had to tell them that they could not enter,” informed the guard with the authority that gave him a reflective vest, a truncheon and handcuffs.
The person in charge of market security admitted that he had not had any problem with the group: “I think they came from a cruise ship” and as he explained, they quickly understood the message and in an orderly manner abandoned access to a market where the exoticism they seek Tourists are not only at the stops but also on the deck. The roof draws an amalgam of colors inspired by the modernist technique that the architects Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue placed with the purpose of opening the infrastructure to the whole city and turning it into a magnet! A purpose that has successfully opened the market not only for the rest of the neighborhoods but, apparently, to the whole world. Such is its power of attraction that it has had to be stopped.
Since yesterday, on Fridays and Saturdays between April and October, large groups have access to Santa Caterina. The City Council has taken this decision with the intention of preserving the current market model before tourism allegedly takes over the space expelling customers from the corridors.
The watchman knows many of the guides because the market, although central, is not one of the largest and has a little more than 60 stops, few corridors and enough familiar faces to highlight the intruders.
The new norm is more extensive. The guard will be alert that the groups do not obstruct the corridors or prevent the approach of the clients to the stops. According to the City Council reports, a concentration of 15 people in these corridors is sufficient to prevent the normal flow of people inside the facility.
The controller has more functions, including inviting those who touch or manipulate food and exposed products with the aim of taking photographs or those who are eating or drinking in space not allowed to leave.
“There are some tourists that I always have to call their attention. There are those who have the habit of touching everything and even stick the nail to the fruit or fish and then the paradise is angry and rightly so “, says the watchman.
The regulations seem to have been good between paradise and customers. And that there are some steps that seem to have changed the chip and now there are stalls selling exclusively prepared Japanese rice and fish, sushi, or pizzas and take away preparations. There is even one that sells souvenirs.
“Barcelona is full of tourists but in the market I have never had problems. This is not like La Boqueria, “says a customer who, after making the purchase of traditional stops, goes directly to the supermarket at the back of the facility.
The fishermen are totally in agreement with the new regulations, also the person in charge of Menuts Toni, who claims to feel more than once “surrounded”. “You feel a true helper, some visitors are very kind, others not so much. Some people surprise you and as they come to apartments they sometimes buy you. But the truth is that not everything is bad, because we also sell more to restaurants where tourists go. “he admits.