On to Cannabicas! In other words, open war on the cannabis clubs that abound in Barcelona. This is the new watchword of the Guardia urbana, the municipal police of the Catalan capital. In 2022, 13 of these associations were closed, and 33 plantations that supplied them were destroyed. Since the beginning of the year, 6 other clubs and 9 cannabis plantations have suffered the same fate. And, to deduce from the recent declarations of the brand new socialist mayor of the city, Jaume Collboni, the repressive dynamic should soon increase against these singular spaces, often little known, which dot the city of Gaudi. Of the approximately 2,000 “clubs” in Spain, half are in Catalonia, 200 of them in Barcelona.
If the constabulary shows its teeth, and increases its “ramps” and warnings against Cannabicas, it is mainly because the courts are tightening the screws against these clubs which paradoxically benefit from a kind of legal vacuum: in July 2021 , the Superior Court of Catalonia explicitly prohibited “the promotion of the consumption, sale and cultivation of cannabis” in these associations. Three years earlier, the Constitutional Court ruled that cannabis is “a narcotic”. According to the Guardia urbana, these clubs are growing exponentially in Barcelona and Catalonia, thanks to a growing clientele, itself reinforced by “cohorts of tourists” attracted by these places that are both private and easy to access. .
It was from 2011 that, favored by the Cannabis Association of Spain, this type of space spread throughout Barcelona. And from the outset, illegally. However, the successive municipal teams have continued to give them de facto recognition: in 2015, the conservative nationalists put the brakes on their rise and, the following year, the leftist Ada Colau gave them her anointing while demanding a distance of at least 100 meters between these associations and schools or children’s parks. In June 2017, the regional parliament dubbed them in turn, but imposed on them as a red line the requirement that, like any association, these Cannabicas could in no way claim to make a profit. And must be limited to offering “recreational and therapeutic use to its customers”.
Therefore, regulated by a federation, the clubs themselves impose a series of prerequisites on anyone wishing to join them: be of legal age, provide valid identification, bring a monthly donation (around €20) and be recommended by one of the members. In Catalonia, it was also established that each Cannabica has the right to cultivate 150 kg of marijuana per year and that each user can withdraw a maximum of 60 grams of “grass” per month. In addition, there is an obligation to consume the substances within the premises of each association. The recent closures operated by the Guardia urbana are due to non-compliance with one of these standards. According to the online newspaper El Diario, some of these places are in the hands of drug traffickers.
These clubs differ from coffee shops in Amsterdam or cannabis shops in the United States in one essential respect: they are organized and distributed as places of socialization. For the most part, they are voluminous, equipped with a bar, a large lounge, and comfortable armchairs. “We wanted to create a space where my grandmother would feel very comfortable,” sums up the owner of a historic Cannabica in the Eixample district, in the center. There’s something for everyone, depending on location and clientele, from the neighborhood club to the “93 Weed Club”, near the Sagrada Familia, with its pool table, video console and psychedelic cushions. Usually, the customer is presented with a card of around fifty marijuana, then has the goods weighed by the bartender, before consuming on the spot, for as long as he wishes.
There is talk of a “Spanish model”. Last March, an international delegation of experts and politicians highlighted “places of socialization” and several nations expressed interest in importing such clubs if cannabis were to be legalized in their countries – Czech Republic , Malta, Germany, Mexico, Colombia… During this visit, the deputy director of the drugs program of the American foundation Open Society, Matt Wilson, deplored “the non-recognition of Spanish cannabis clubs, which maintain a balance between hospitality and discretion”. But that doesn’t seem to be the trend. On February 21, the National Parliament rejected the Catalan separatists’ proposal to legalize cannabis.