Overview
- The city announced on Monday that it will not renew the two‑year licences for seven private bike‑share operators and that their services will stop when those licences expire at the end of 2026.
- Operators including Lime, Cooltra, Bird, Bolt, Donkey Republic, RideMovi and Voi said the move surprised them, have coordinated a joint response and dispute some municipal figures about tourist use.
- Opposition parties forced an extraordinary mobility commission to demand explanations and the mayor has 15 working days to convene talks that could reopen regulatory options.
- The municipal government points to about 5,500 fines for improper parking in the last 18 months and says private fleets caused local oversaturation at hotspots; operators note they run patrols to reposition bikes and say planned pilot measures are now on hold.
- Barcelona is expanding its long‑running public Bicing system, which has about 8,000 bikes and 170,000 subscribers, and city officials are weighing alternatives such as fewer consolidated operators or metropolitan management to replace the current model.