Will Barcelona have to close its Cannabis Clubs?

The Cannabis Social Clubs model, consolidated in Barcelona over the last decade, could see its days numbered. The courts have annulled a bylaw approved by the city council in 2016 that governed the more than 200 such premises in the city. With this decision, upheld by the Supreme Court, the last legal umbrella left to these spaces has disappeared.

The TSJC, or in other words, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia, has ruled that cannabis associations can only operate as private clubs and cannot promote the use and consumption of cannabis, nor its sale or cultivation.

Barcelona's cannabis associations under inspection spotlight

In 2016, Barcelona City Council approved a «special urban plan» in which cannabis associations were ordered territorially. The aim was to reduce nuisance to the neighborhood and avoid concentrating Clubs to improve coexistence with the population.

This territorial organization by the Barcelona City Council was annulled by the Court of Justice of Catalonia on the grounds that no municipality is competent to create a regulation of this nature «not even from the point of view of town planning, since it considers that these are areas susceptible to crime». The city council appealed to the Spanish Supreme Court, which rejected the council's appeal in April.

From now on, in order to enforce the law, Barcelona City Council will have to inspect and control these cannabis associations. The first to be inspected will be the clubs with the greatest negative impact, namely those focused on tourists and large-scale sales. Self-consumption associations and other consumer groups will then follow on the inspection list.

In turn, these cannabis associations will be informed by letter of the current situation. The Catalan city council has set up an internal working group in the fields of «legal services, health, safety and urban planning» to compile the various proposals for changes to the law at Spanish state and regional level, which will be studied by the two authorities.

CATFAC calls for dialogue between all stakeholders

Catalonia's cannabis associations (CATFAC) regret the decision of the High Court of Catalonia to force them to operate as private cannabis clubs and not to be able to promote the consumption, cultivation or sale of cannabis.

CATFAC made its position clear, declaring: «We have come to stay and we will stay». For the Federation of Cannabis Associations of Catalonia, this setback by the courts would be a «new judicial attack» on its activities, and it calls for «dialogue and courage» on the part of Barcelona City Council to give a «coordinated response» to this issue so deeply rooted in the city.

CATFAC calls for firmness in the face of governmental inertia «We call on all political representatives to use all democratic tools to reverse this situation. Don't give in to government inaction. If ever there was a time to be courageous, it's now, and regulating cannabis associations today is an urgent matter.».

«Once again, the judiciary is charging cannabis associations without taking into account the social reality of the city of Barcelona, which has been living with these entities for over 30 years,» complains the Federation of Cannabis Associations. «Instead of analyzing a model clearly aimed at achieving personal safety, it is once again applying its punitive strategy of repression and annihilation of a model of access to cannabis that is internationally recognized and pioneering in Europe.».

«From now on, we will not stand idly by and actively respond to the repressive machine until we obtain recognition of an acquired right,» they conclude.

Barcelona's Cannabis Clubs

The cannabis associations in Barcelona have been part of the city's landscape for over a decade. On several occasions, through the intermediary of the Catalan government or the city of Barcelona itself, formulas have been sought to keep this type of association within the law.

But sometimes for legal reasons, and other times because they do not fall within the remit of the regulatory institution, this type of club or association could not be legalized and continues to remain in a kind of «legal limbo». Today, the High Court of Catalonia annulled an initiative by Barcelona City Council, encouraging it to inspect this type of association.

The same court decision states that these associations should not be authorized to promote the consumption, cultivation or sale of cannabis. This decision by the TSJC did not please the cannabis associations grouped together in its Federation, who have been calling for the regulation of this type of group for years.

Barcelona is the city with the most cannabis associations in Spain. It is also an international reference point for many tourists who visit the city and seek access to cannabis.