Barcelona authorities want to combat graffiti on city walls by increasing their regular cleaning and imposing higher fines, the Catalan daily La Vanguardia writes on Friday.
In February, a new city cleaning contract came into effect in the Catalan capital. As part of the contract, more than 350 streets and squares with the most graffiti are cleaned every four months, according to Barcelona authorities, quoted by the daily.
Mayor Jaume Collboni's office reported a 2.5-fold increase in graffiti removal requests in recent times, and fines issued by Municipal Police (Guardia Urbana) increased from 300 to 500 euros.
Graffiti in BarcelonaAnalie Parc/Shutterstock
As La Vanguardia points out, despite increased pressure from the authorities, “many graffiti artists continue to paint on the streets and squares they consider theirs”, especially in the city center, including the oldest district of Barcelona – Ciutat Vella.
“Ultimately, the war on graffiti leads to the spread of graffiti everywhere,” concludes La Vanguardia.
Main image source: Analie Parc/Shutterstock