TBS presents a study to renew nightlife and boost its reactivation

TBS in Barcelona and the Gremi d’Empresaris de Discoteques de Barcelona have presented the study ‘BCNit: Nightlife in Barcelona post-Covid-19’, which proposes an action plan for reopening

The sector is calling for a relaxation of regulations for a sector on which 37,500 direct jobs depend in the province of Barcelona alone.

TBS in Barcelona has presented this morning at its Bailén campus the report on the nightlife sector entitled ‘BCNit: Nightlife in Barcelona post-Covid-19’. This project has been carried out by 19 Bachelor and Master students of TBS in Barcelona, under the supervision of Professor Fabien Pecot, the collaboration of the Gremi d’Empresaris de Discoteques de Barcelona i Província, and also with contributions from Sala Razzmatazz, as well as researchers of the LX Nights project, Sounds of Tourism and the Comissió Nocturna Barcelona.

The report details a series of proposals for the renovation of the nightlife sector in Barcelona, once the restrictions aimed at placating the advance of Covid-19 are lifted, based on the cultural, social, and economic importance of this sector in the life of the city and its inhabitants.

The three main directives of the report, regarding the orientation that nightlife in Barcelona should have, are based, in the first place, on the realization of parties in alternative spaces and schedules, such as a concert on top of boats in the Forum or the Olympic Canal of Catalonia.

Secondly, changes are also proposed in the operation of nightlife companies, caused by the restrictions, such as the adoption of an app so that a table in a bar can be reserved in advance – so that different tables can be reserved in different places during the night -, or the creation of workshops to design masks while the client waits for the result of the antigen test.

Finally, the report proposes new ways for businesses to raise funds, such as crowdfunding or the use of NFT, as well as the creation of a strategic public relations campaign, as the report highlights the lack of a favorable image of nightlife and the lack of recognition of its contribution to the city’s economy and culture.

Thus, one of the report’s proposals is based on diversifying the schedules of what could be classified as ‘nightlife’, moving these cultural possibilities throughout the day: “After all, the nightlife is not so much nightlife, but is also lived during the day,” summarized TBS professor Fabien Pecot.

The event counted with the intervention of the president of the employers’ association España de Noche and of the Gremi de Discoteques de Barcelona i Provincia, Ramon Mas, who revealed that the nightlife sector is the only industry that does not have a sectorial plan by Procicat, and put on table three possible scenarios of reopening dates: July, with the capacity restricted to the maximum possible; October, with more capacity; and the first quarter of next year, with the maximum capacity but with a much weaker sector after a two-year closure.

In this way, Mas has also recognized the work of TBS in Barcelona for proposing a series of changes in the way the sector operates: “This stoppage has allowed us to think about what we can offer to our public”, which has also defended the diversification of the activities of nightclubs and music bars throughout the day: “We need a relaxation of the regulations. For example, we cannot have morning concerts in a soundproof room, as the study proposes”.

The researcher Jordi Nofre, a researcher at the University of Nova de Lisboa and the Center for Youth and Society Studies (JOVIS) of the University of Lleida, who has also actively contributed to the report, stressed its importance: “Until now, there were no studies of night culture here, as there are in the United States, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany…”.

Nofre stressed the importance, not only economically and socially, of nightlife, but also as a necessary escape route for good mental health: “Nightlife is culture and is central to the social and emotional life of the world”. Furthermore, he also denounced that this is a sector that is marginalized concerning other industries also considered essential: “There are 37,500 direct jobs in this sector in Barcelona. When Nissan closed, it had 3,700 direct jobs and soon there were several plans on the table. On the other hand, there are no plans for nightlife in Barcelona.

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