1st International Symposium on emblematic trade in European cities

Held in Barcelona, the conference aims to create joint strategies to preserve Europe’s commercial heritage. During the conference, the “Barcelona Declaration on the preservation and promotion of emblematic commercial establishments” was signed. The document includes, among others, urging the European Parliament to recognize the value of these establishments for the European identity. This declaration recognizes the crucial role played by local governments in leading the protection and enhancement of emblematic commercial establishments and stresses the need to develop partnerships at local level with all parties involved.

The third deputy mayor, Laia Bonet, stressed that “the emblematic commercial establishments must be preserved in terms of urban planning, and protected as historical heritage, but we cannot allow them to become museums; they must also be economically viable”.

The councillor of Commerce, Markets and Consumption, Montserrat Ballarín, explained that “this conference today is the seed of what we hope will be a very large tree, a network of European cities dedicated to preserving and protecting the emblematic commercial establishments”.

In addition, as the Declaration states, the emblematic commercial establishments must participate in the co-creation of municipal policies on local trade to ensure their competitiveness, advance in the sector’s professionalization and digitization, through training and juridical and legal advice and support in the management of economic activity.