The short version: The Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) and Catalan planning authorities have approved a major update to parking rules for new buildings across Barcelona and 27 surrounding municipalities. The new framework introduces minimum bicycle and/or personal-mobility-vehicle parking in buildings and changes car-parking requirements according to use and public-transport accessibility. El País reports the residential standard as two bicycle or scooter spaces per dwelling. The AMB says the change is definitively approved; the detailed rules take legal effect through the formal planning/publication process.

Barcelona’s next generation of apartment blocks is being planned around more than the private car. A definitive metropolitan planning update approved on 17 September changes how new buildings must provide parking for cars, bicycles and personal mobility vehicles such as scooters.

The measure is broader than Barcelona city alone. It covers the 28 municipalities governed by the relevant Metropolitan General Plan, including Barcelona, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona, Sant Adrià de Besòs, Cornellà, El Prat and a long list of other metropolitan municipalities.

The official AMB announcement frames the change as a 50-year update to planning rules that no longer reflect current transport patterns, housing pressures or environmental goals. It is designed to make parking requirements more sensitive to public-transport access while also guaranteeing space for bicycles and personal mobility vehicles in new development.

1. What has actually changed

The AMB says the revised rules apply to new buildings, buildings where the volume is expanded, and buildings where the use changes. The framework sets parking reserves according to what a building is used for and where it sits in the metropolitan transport network.

For bicycles and personal mobility vehicles, the direction is straightforward: new development must reserve dedicated parking rather than treating bikes and scooters as an afterthought squeezed into corridors, balconies or whatever corner happens to remain.

For cars, the framework becomes more location-sensitive. Areas inside Barcelona’s ring roads and places with strong public-transport access can carry lower minimums — and in some cases maximums — than places where residents remain more dependent on private vehicles.

Why this matters: parking requirements shape building cost, basement size and how much space is available for other uses. Changing those ratios is not just a transport rule; it can affect housing design and project economics.

2. The two-spaces-per-home rule

El País, reporting on the newly approved regulation on 19 September, says new residential buildings must provide two parking spaces for bicycles and/or personal mobility vehicles for each dwelling. The previous metropolitan rules did not explicitly address bicycles or VMPs in this way.

The official AMB release confirms that minimum bicycle/VMP parking reserves are now required according to building use and location, and that bicycle/VMP provision is part of the new baseline across building types. The exact residential ratio is reported by El País from the approved planning text.

The newspaper also notes that the regulation does not dictate one universal physical format for those two spaces. Depending on the project, they may be provided in basements, common areas or courtyards, subject to the approved planning and building requirements.

3. What happens to car-parking requirements

This is not a ban on car parking. The AMB explicitly says the change is intended to adapt parking to local need rather than prohibit private vehicles.

Inside Barcelona’s ring roads, the official framework can set a maximum number of car spaces in order to discourage extra traffic in dense, highly accessible areas. Outside the ring roads but close to rail stations — the AMB uses up to 800 metres as the relevant accessibility band — minimum car-parking reserves can also be lower than under the old rules.

Elsewhere in the metropolitan area, updated minimums remain possible where public-transport access is weaker and the private car is still more important to everyday mobility.

The change also allows up to 25% of required car spaces to be swapped for motorcycle spaces at a ratio of three motorcycle spaces for one car space, and gives municipalities more flexibility to tailor parking requirements in particular areas.

4. Where the new framework applies

The AMB lists 28 municipalities covered by the planning modification: Barcelona plus Badalona, Badia del Vallès, Castelldefels, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Cornellà de Llobregat, El Papiol, El Prat de Llobregat, Esplugues de Llobregat, Gavà, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Molins de Rei, Montcada i Reixac, Montgat, Pallejà, Ripollet, Sant Adrià de Besòs, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Sant Climent de Llobregat, Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Sant Joan Despí, Sant Just Desvern, Sant Vicenç dels Horts, Santa Coloma de Cervelló, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Tiana and Viladecans.

Barcelona city’s part of the modification had already been definitively approved by the city’s urban-planning subcommission in July, according to the AMB. The metropolitan commission gave the wider modification definitive approval on 17 September.

5. Why affordable housing is part of the story

One of the biggest policy shifts is that protected/affordable housing and certain community accommodation will not have to provide a minimum number of car-parking spaces. The AMB argues that this can reduce construction complexity and cost, particularly where strong public transport means not every household wants or needs a garage space.

Market-rate housing does not get the same blanket exemption. The official AMB summary says privately developed housing continues to have minimum car-parking requirements, with additional maximum limits inside Barcelona’s ring roads depending on floor area.

That distinction matters because the new regulation is trying to solve two problems at once: modernise mobility standards and remove a cost burden that can make affordable housing harder to deliver.

6. What residents and buyers should know

For existing apartment owners, this is not a rule ordering every established building to retrofit two bicycle spaces per flat tomorrow. The AMB describes the new obligations in the context of new construction, building-volume extensions and changes of use.

For buyers or tenants in future developments, the practical difference may be more visible: secure bike/scooter storage should increasingly become a normal part of the building programme, while the number of car spaces may vary much more depending on location and housing type.

For developers and neighbourhood groups, the detail will sit in permits and planning implementation. The AMB also says municipalities can introduce specific determinations for particular areas, so one headline ratio does not replace the need to check an actual project’s approved plans.

Existing building? Do not assume this headline creates an immediate retrofit obligation for your current block. The official announcement targets new buildings, expansions and changes of use.

7. When the rules take effect

The metropolitan planning modification was definitively approved on 17 September 2026. That does not mean every planning application instantly changes on the same morning.

El País reports that the regulation enters into force after publication in the Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya (DOGC). Anyone making a legal, purchase or development decision should therefore check the final published planning text and the relevant municipal planning office rather than relying on a news summary.

For ordinary residents, the important signal is already clear: Barcelona’s planning rules are shifting toward guaranteed bike/scooter storage, less automatic car-parking construction in transit-rich areas and more flexibility for affordable housing.

8. Sources & verification

How we know

We used the AMB’s official definitive-approval announcement for the scope, policy structure, municipality list and treatment of affordable housing. We used current El País reporting for the precise two-spaces-per-dwelling residential ratio and publication timing. Where the official summary is broader than the detailed planning text, this article says so rather than presenting a secondary-source detail as an AMB quotation.