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Major Spanish city bans organised pub crawls
Rule breakers could be fined €900 in the latest crackdown on unruly tourists in Spain
Barcelona has become the latest Spanish city to say goodbye to organised pub crawls. The council has just brought in a citywide ban that will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for the next four years. The aim, they say, is to make life quieter for locals, protect public health and keep the peace in the streets.
The move follows years of complaints from residents about noise, rubbish and bad behaviour linked to large groups of tourists going from bar to bar.
Ciutat Vella was the first district to outlaw these drinking tours back in 2012. Since then, the restrictions have gradually spread to other parts of the city, including the Eixample district, which introduced its own rules in June 2025.
Now the ban has been extended to the entire city. That means no organising, promoting or running pub crawls anywhere in Barcelona at any time. Advertising them is off the table too. Break the rules and you could be hit with fines of between €1,500 and €3,000.
According to Barcelona police, the rules are already having an effect. In 2012 there were 58 complaints about organised drinking tours in Ciutat Vella. Last year there were only three. Officers credit the drop to tougher checks and keeping an eye on social media, which has made it much harder for organisers to operate.
City officials are confident that applying the ban everywhere, all the time, will make an even bigger difference.
Image: Bar Vint-i-quatre
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