Barcelona’s Coexistence Byelaw was rewritten for 15 February 2026, and the change that matters to a visitor is not the size of the fines but who ends up paying them. Officers of the Guàrdia Urbana can now require payment on the street, there and then, using electronic devices, and the discounts for paying early have been cut. In the byelaw’s first week, 982 reports were filed: 36 % for alcohol, 31 % for street vending, 20 % for urinating and 7 % for visual degradation of the surroundings. The headline figure of 3.000 euros is real, but it is aimed at whoever organises a pub crawl, and a pub crawl is banned 24 hours a day.
What can you be fined for on the street in Barcelona? Drinking from a can is 30 to 100 euros, walking shirtless 120 to 300, buying from an unlicensed seller up to 600 and urinating up to 750. Since February 2026 non-residents can be made to pay on the spot, with card payment taken in the street.
The rule that surprises visitors most
| Conduct | Fine |
|---|---|
| Walking or standing in public with a bare torso, unless doing physical activity | 120 to 300 euros |
| Clothing or accessories explicitly depicting genitalia, or obviously sexual | 120 to 300 euros |
| Exhibitionism or degrading verbal expressions | 100 to 600 euros |
The first two are new and did not exist before 2026. The exception decides it: running along the seafront with no shirt is not an offence, and the walk home from the beach through the Born is. Barceloneta and the Gòtic are where that walk happens, and where the campaign is aimed. The second row is aimed at the stag and hen trade, enforced in the same streets.
Buying from a street seller is an offence too
Noise runs on a different rulebook: there is no quiet-hours clock, only a decibel ceiling that changes with your stretch of street.
| Conduct | Fine |
|---|---|
| Selling without authorisation | 100 to 600 euros |
| Helping an unlicensed seller | Up to 600 euros |
| Buying a product from an unlicensed seller | Up to 600 euros |
| Buying food or drink from an unlicensed seller | Up to 600 euros |
Street vending was 31 % of the first week, and almost nobody realises the bottom two rows exist. The buyer is fined on the same scale as the seller — the beer handed over on the sand, the shirt off a sheet on the Rambla.
Drinking outdoors, and the number that is actually charged
| Conduct | Fine |
|---|---|
| Drinking from a can or glass bottle where it is not authorised | 30 to 100 euros |
| Drinking in a way that disturbs people using the space or residents | 30 to 100 euros |
| Drinking that seriously disturbs the peace | 100 to 600 euros |
| Drinking with minors present or where night restrictions apply | Up to 1.500 euros |
| Organising or promoting a pub crawl | Up to 3.000 euros |
| Leaving cans or bottles on the ground or the public highway | Up to 500 euros |
What separates the first row from the fourth is the circumstance, not the street: the same can is 30 euros in an empty square and 1.500 where a night restriction applies and children are around. They stack, too — drinking it and leaving the empty are two reports. Alcohol was 36 % of that first week and 38.064 reports in 2024, which makes it by a distance the thing a visitor is most likely to be stopped for.
Where you go changes what it costs
| Where | Fine |
|---|---|
| Urinating, defecating or spitting in public, in general | Up to 300 euros |
| In narrow streets, nightlife areas or where public toilets exist | Up to 750 euros |
| In busy areas, places used by children, or at monuments and listed buildings | 750,01 to 1.500 euros |
The aggravating factor is the location, not the act. The same thing costs five times more beside a listed building than on an ordinary street, and the Gòtic is largely made of listed buildings. Dog urine not rinsed with water is also up to 300 euros, with assistance dogs excepted.
This was 20 % of the first week and the council has made it the face of its campaign, with night projections on the MACBA and the Torre Agbar.
Scooters, bikes and headphones
- Up to 500 euros — riding a personal mobility vehicle on the pavement where it is banned.
- Up to 200 euros — riding a bike or scooter with headphones connected to an audio player.
- Up to 200 euros — riding recklessly with a clear risk to other users.
- Up to 200 euros — a tourist group using a scooter for business use without a guide.
- Up to 100 euros — failing to give way to pedestrians.
The headphones line catches people who have no idea it exists; the pavement one is the expensive one. In 2024 the Guàrdia Urbana filed 28.091 reports involving bikes and scooters, nearly as many as for alcohol. Where to leave the bike is in bike parking, 46.210 spaces across 4.407 points.
Litter, noise and graffiti
Furniture left out on the wrong evening follows the same logic: bulky waste collection is free but only between 20.00 and 22.00 on your street’s assigned day.
| Conduct | Fine |
|---|---|
| Singing, shouting or quarrelling so it disturbs rest | Up to 3.000 euros |
| Noise that disturbs residents’ rest | Up to 750 euros |
| Dropping anything, however small: paper, chewing gum, a cup, packaging | Up to 750 euros |
| Graffiti or painting on any element in a public space | 100 to 600 euros |
A chewing gum falls under the same article as a bin bag, and the top row reaches 3.000 euros without organising anything: shouting at four in the morning on the wrong street is enough. Noise is reported far less than it is complained about —7.329 in 2024— because a can is seen and written up on the spot while noise needs measuring.
If you do not live here, you pay in the street
The byelaw lets officers require payment at the moment, with electronic devices, and replaces posting the file to a home address with immediate notification. That is aimed at non-residents, who until now often left the country before anything arrived. Early-payment discounts have been reduced, so waiting is worth less than it used to be.
There is one route out that is not money: for young people and people in vulnerable situations, the byelaw strengthens educational and restorative alternatives instead of the fine.
What this byelaw does not cover
Parking, an expired ticket and the tow truck belong to a different set of rules, in traffic fines and towing, and what a space costs is in blue and green zone parking. Driving a car with no environmental label is the low emission zone, a separate 200-euro fine.
Getting around without risking any of it is straightforward, and it starts on arrival: the airport reaches the centre in about 35 minutes, the metro and bus network runs from 5:00, and the travel ticket to book is the T-casual, 13 euros for 10 journeys. Which areas to know about is in safety in Barcelona, and districts puts the map together.
The can costs 30 euros; leaving it on the ground costs 500.
Frequently asked questions about fines in Barcelona
Can you drink in the street in Barcelona?
No, and the ordinary fine is 30 to 100 euros for drinking from a can or glass bottle where it is not authorised. It rises to 100-600 euros if the peace is seriously disturbed and up to 1.500 with minors present or where night restrictions apply.
Is it illegal to walk around shirtless in Barcelona?
It carries a fine of 120 to 300 euros, new in the 2026 byelaw, unless you are doing some form of physical activity. The same band covers clothing or accessories that explicitly depict genitalia.
Can a tourist be fined for buying from a street seller?
Up to 600 euros, for buying either a product or food and drink from an unlicensed seller. Selling without a licence is 100 to 600 euros, and so is helping the seller.
Do visitors have to pay the fine immediately?
Officers can now require payment there and then using electronic devices on the street, which is the change aimed squarely at non-residents. Early-payment discounts have also been reduced, so delaying costs more than it used to.
Are the fines enforced, or is it mostly a deterrent?
They are enforced. In the byelaw’s first week the Guàrdia Urbana filed 982 reports, and across 2024 it filed 38.064 for drinking in public space and 28.091 involving bikes and personal mobility vehicles.
What about riding an e-scooter?
Riding a personal mobility vehicle on the pavement where it is banned costs up to 500 euros, riding with headphones connected to an audio player up to 200, and failing to give way to pedestrians up to 100.