Anyone riding an electric scooter on the pavement or without a helmet in Barcelona faces a fine of up to €500 (£415) from 1 February as part of a crackdown on antisocial behaviour linked to the rapid rise of e-scooter use in the Mediterranean city.
In an urban landscape that is mostly flat, with more than 250km (155 miles) of cycle lanes, 2,500 hours of sunshine and barely 55 rainy days a year, electric scooters are a perfect fit. According to the city council’s figures, the number of people using e-scooters since the pandemic has risen four times faster than those choosing to travel by bicycle.
It now estimates that e-scooters account for about 44,000 journeys a day, a huge increase compared with close to zero five years ago. Women account for 31% of scooter riders, compared with 19% of cyclists.
The e-scooters have brought problems as well as benefits, however. With a top speed of about 25mph, e-scooters are much faster and in the event of an accident more dangerous than bicycles. They have also become the favoured getaway vehicle by Barcelona’s numerous bag and mobile phone thieves.
Under the new regulation, e-scooter speeds are limited to 25km/h (15.5mph). Adrià Gomila, who is responsible for mobility in Barcelona, says if e-scooter speeds go above 25km/h they should be classed as motorcycles and will require a licence.
He said: “These measures are designed to bring about a change of behaviour on the part of some users, improve safety and be of collective benefit.”
While Barcelona’s bicycle rental scheme has been hugely successful, the city banned rental scooters in 2023, the same year that Paris brought in a ban. At their peak, there were 15,000 rental e-scooters in the French capital.
E-scooters have been banned from public transport since one caught fire on a train in 2023. The latest restrictions follow earlier attempts to crack down on Segway tours and rickshaws after complaints from residents. Rickshaws have now completely disappeared.
Barcelona also has more motorcycles per capita – 270,000 – than any other European city and for decades has failed to address the problem of parking motorbikes on pavements. The new bylaw shies away from the problem, saying parking on pavements is preferable to parking on the street.
