Barcelona has visibly stepped up its cleaning of public spaces to remove unauthorised graffiti and other daubings in 2026. According to the city council, new markings are increasingly being removed soon after they appear, alongside measures to enforce public-order rules. This intensified effort is part of the city’s Pla Endreça under Mayor Jaume Collboni, who has made cleanliness and the upkeep of public spaces a priority.
The Ajuntament de Barcelona points to several strands of work: in districts such as Ciutat Vella targeted campaigns are under way against unauthorised “pintadas” and “grafitos”, combining more frequent cleaning rounds with information for residents and inspections. At the same time, cleaning services have been reorganised into a city-wide structure and work schedules stepped up. According to the city, the aim is to significantly reduce how long daubings remain visible on the streets and make repeat offences less attractive.
The measures are embedded in broader programmes. The government programme for the current term reports on the progress of key initiatives, including the Pla Endreça. The Plan Local de Seguridad 2024–2027 also identifies systematic maintenance of public spaces and action against vandalism as a key strand of its security policy. In individual districts such as Sant Martí the initiatives are implemented in day-to-day cleaning and maintenance as operational plans (“Cuidamos Barcelona”).
The city is pairing faster removal with penalties. Municipal regulations on offences and fee schedules provide for charges and fines when public or private spaces are marked without permission or cleaning work has to be carried out. The administration stresses that combining rapid cleaning with enforcement is intended to deter offenders. However, publicly available official documents contain no specific city-wide figures showing a reduction in incidents.
The interests and effects are clear: the city council and many businesses expect a better-maintained environment, lower cleaning costs over time and a more positive impression of Barcelona in everyday life and for tourism. Critics regularly argue that restrictive rules could also push artistic expression out of public spaces; the official documents reviewed contain no assessment of this. What is clear, however, is that Barcelona increased administrative and operational pressure against unauthorised markings in 2026, with an emphasis on making the results of cleaning visible quickly.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).