Administrations have historically subsidized the purchase of a new car with the Renove plan and its substitutes. Aid for motorcycles has also been constant. On the other hand, the bicycle has too often been left aside despite its growing role in urban mobility.
Barcelona City Council is now taking a relevant step in this regard and plans to launch aid worth up to 400 euros to all those residents who buy an urban or folding electric bike. The subsidy will rise to 800 euros in the case of cargo bicycles, as stated in the Bike Agenda 2026-2030 to which La Vanguardia has had access.
The municipal government hopes to approve the bases of the subsidy before the end of the year and launch the call in the first quarter of 2027. All purchases made from the moment the bases are approved will be eligible for the aid, which will have an annual allocation of one million euros, which will allow it to reach more than 2,000 beneficiaries each year.
The intention is to maintain financial aid for the next four years to give a boost to sustainable mobility. “We want to create all the conditions to increase the use of bicycles,” defends the first deputy mayor, Laia Bonet, who highlights how the electric bicycle “allows us to cover longer distances, unevenness, and thus become an alternative mobility for many people.”
The latest study by the Bicycle Club of Catalonia (BACC), prepared with the support of the City Council, points out that on the bike lanes of the Catalan capital there are already a majority of users of electric bikes (46%) compared to traditional mechanical ones (35%). The upward evolution of assisted pedaling – also driven by Bicing – is eating away at electric scooters that are losing presence after years of rapid growth.
Aid for the purchase of bikes, like that for cars, is not a new invention. The Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) was a leading institution in terms of mobility the previous decade, when Antonio Poveda was at the helm. At that time, it promoted a similar initiative with aid of 250 euros for the purchase of an electric bike between 2014 and 2018. Some town councils continued it in subsequent years at the local level.
The Ministry of Transport, for its part, approved a Royal Decree at the beginning of last year in which it included the creation of aid for the purchase of electric bikes but it has not gone ahead. In March of this year they opened a prior public consultation and to this day it is still unknown when, how and for what amount the aid will end up coming out.
In any case, an electric bicycle also means a greater investment on the part of the buyer – it is difficult to find one under 1,000 euros – and, therefore, a greater risk of theft. The municipal government wants to respond to this problem by betting on safe bicycle parking. The expansion of the successful Bicibox established in the metropolitan environment is ruled out in Barcelona – demonstrating the umpteenth dysfunction between the capital and neighboring cities – although the municipal government's proposal is very similar to the one that the AMB has already been applying in recent times.
The plan involves enabling closed parking lots with video surveillance systems on empty ground floors or wasted spaces of municipal facilities located near public transport stations or areas with a high density of offices and shops. A first pilot test will start before the end of this year in a location yet to be determined. It will be expanded to one in each district over the next year and the idea of those responsible for the municipal bicycle strategy is to grow and expand throughout the city depending on the results.
