If all goes well, and the truth is that with the works you never know, especially in Ciutat Vella, where anything can appear, the reform of the Rambla will be completed in 2027, three years earlier than initially planned during the first term of mayoress Ada Colau. The municipal technicians are uniting and concentrating the countless phases and parts in principle arranged to execute this long-awaited project more quickly. In this way, the government of Mayor Jaume Collboni is finalizing the new remodeling work schedule for Barcelona's most visited promenade, the city's most international showcase.
In fact, the socialist executive is confident that these plans will be approved at the municipal planning committee that will be held in mid-October. The news is being received with enthusiasm by residents and merchants in the neighborhood. Despite the fact that the reform began in the less traveled area of the Rambla, in the lower part, these first works are being much more uncomfortable than many expected.
"It's just that they've ruined our season - they lament behind the bar of La Cava Universal, on the corner of the promenade with Calle Anselm Clavé -. And the truth is that we have a hard time understanding it. In any case, didn't they prolong the work for so long precisely to mitigate its impact? The works started in October of last year, and the machines started digging here in front, where we had the terrace, in July. In June our turnover dropped by 40%; in July, 60... and in August, 80%!". These days La Cava has 165 years of history. A waiter exudes sarcasm and says that the former mayoress Colau left them a very nice birthday present.
At the moment the walk on this side of the Rambla is a nuisance. You don't quite know where to go and you are easily surprised on the asphalt between concrete barriers and moving cars. People try to leave the stretch between the monument to Columbus and Arts Santa Mònica behind as soon as possible. Some human statues also suffer from these circumstances. Here they feel that the City Council lacked a little empathy at the time. Shorten this reform as much as possible was one of the socialist's first pre-election promises, and also one of his first commitments once he was proclaimed mayor.
"They should have made much better use of the autumn, instead of putting the machines in the middle of summer - says Fermín Villar, from the association of residents and traders Amics de la Rambla-. We thank Mayor Collboni and his team for their sensitivity and good disposition. The truth is that the perspective of seven and a half years of works seemed really hard, very difficult to assume. It never seemed to us that developing these works in a lot of phases and parts should reduce their impact on the daily life of the promenade. for nothing This week they found archaeological remains again. They don't seem to have much value, like the previous ones. Here on the Rambla, the unforeseen are continuous. The changes that the municipal technicians are communicating to us seem very timely."
These first works in the lower part will be finished in the spring. Then the reform between Santa Madrona Street and Plaça Catalunya will be tendered and budgeted. The idea is to execute it in one run. Work on this super stretch will begin in 2025, but will last 34 months and could be finished by 2027. Yes, it's a long shot, but the original plan was basically to divide the work into five phases, and subdivide each one of them in three more parts. In this way, the reform of the Rambla would not be ready until approximately 2030.
