BizkaiaGipuzkoaArabaVitoria-GasteizLlanada AlavesaRioja AlavesaMontaña AlavesaValles AlavesesCantábrica AlavesaEstribaciones del GorbeaDonostialdeaBidasoaTolosaldeaGoierriUrola KostaDebagoienaDebabarrenaGran BilbaoDurangaldeaLea-ArtibaiBusturialdeaUribe KostaEnkarterriArratia-NerviónMungialdeaBizkaiaGipuzkoaArabaVitoria-GasteizLlanada AlavesaRioja AlavesaMontaña AlavesaValles AlavesesCantábrica AlavesaEstribaciones del GorbeaDonostialdeaBidasoaTolosaldeaGoierriUrola KostaDebagoienaDebabarrenaGran BilbaoDurangaldeaLea-ArtibaiBusturialdeaUribe KostaEnkarterriArratia-NerviónMungialdea
EU|ES|EN

Diario Euskadi

Bilbao Street Artists Protest Against New Municipal Ordinance Restrictions

The SOS Bilboko Kaleko Artistak collective demands the right to use amplifiers and access central city areas.

Generic image: street artist's hat on the ground, with a blurred city street in the background.
IA

Generic image: street artist's hat on the ground, with a blurred city street in the background.

Street artists in Bilbao have gathered in Arriaga Square to protest new municipal ordinance restrictions that limit the use of amplifiers and access to key central areas of the city.

Organized by the SOS Bilboko Kaleko Artistak collective, dozens of musicians, actors, and jugglers converged on Arriaga Square to express their strong opposition to the new municipal regulations. These regulations aim to severely restrict their activities in public spaces. The collective believes that the measures included in the recent update to the terrace ordinance represent a setback for the city and “a direct threat to the survival of disciplines such as music, theater, dance, and circus in the streets” of Bilbao.
The conflict stems from the Bilbao City Council's decision to use the regulation of hospitality terraces as an opportunity to introduce restrictions on street art, a measure initially approved with the votes of the PNV and PSE parties. According to the city government, the objective is to mitigate noise disturbances in certain areas of the city for residents and workers. However, artists have labeled these prohibitions as “drastic” and criticize that they have been maintained despite “three months of efforts to generate dialogue with the council,” since the intention to update the regulations was announced on January 31. Finally, on April 24, they were able to hold a meeting with city council representatives.
“

"It is inconsistent to cancel small cultural expressions while the council promotes much noisier macro-events."

a spokesperson for the collective
Among the most controversial points of the regulation is the total prohibition of using amplifiers and pre-recorded music tracks. Furthermore, the ordinance bans these artists from the most frequented and emblematic locations, such as the Casco Viejo (Old Town), the first half of Gran Vía, and Ercilla and Diputación streets, which are precisely the most attractive for performers. In response, SOS Bilboko Kaleko Artistak demands that “the use of loudspeakers up to 70 decibels be permitted, the formation of groups of more than three members, and that their space in Aste Nagusia be guaranteed, where we have always been,” as recalled by the collective's spokespersons during the reading of a statement.
This day of protest in Arriaga is the first in a series of mobilizations that “will continue on May 15 in front of the City Hall and will culminate with a demonstration on May 23”.

Related News