Barcelona bans ‘dark stores’ and ‘dark kitchens’

Barcelona approved a total ban on dark stores (distribution hubs used by companies that provide grocery home deliveries), joining other European cities such as Amsterdam that announced restrictions in 2022. Reuters reports about it.

Dark stores are like retail shops but without on-site sales, just deliveries from them. Quick commerce delivery services expanded across Europe in recent years to meet soaring demand during the pandemic’s lockdowns but have faced growing scrutiny from authorities because of their effects on neighborhoods.

Barcelona also approved a measure to force so-called ‘dark kitchens’. The kitchen facilities that produce food for home delivery are to be located only in an urban industrial district.

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