La Seu d'Urgell backs plan curbing gaming halls and extends licence freeze to 2027

The council of La Seu d'Urgell in Lleida has given initial approval to a special plan regulating recreational use, an urban-planning instrument intended to order leisure activities in the municipality and limit the opening of gaming halls. The council has also extended a suspension of works and activity licences for recreational gaming halls across the whole municipal area by one more year, until 13 September 2027, or until the plan takes effect if that comes earlier.

The document was drafted by the technical teams Taller AT and Peralta Urbanisme and updates the municipality's General Urban Development Plan of 2002. According to the council, that regulation had become outdated in relation to sectoral legislation and set neither minimum distances nor protection filters towards sensitive facilities. The plan classifies recreational activities into three categories according to their incidence, and assesses impact level, protection of the surroundings, street capacity, diversity of uses and the accumulation of establishments in the same area.

Among its objectives, the council cites the protection of young people and minors. The plan sets urban-planning protection radii around educational, cultural and health environments, and justifies the measure on public-health studies that, according to the council, link the proximity of gaming halls and bingo venues to gambling disorder at early ages. It also seeks to prevent the concentration of gaming or music venues in narrow streets or areas of high residential density.

The council has additionally suspended licences for the highest-impact music activities for a maximum of two years. Mayor Joan Barrera said the council was not against leisure or economic activity but in favour of leisure that coexists with residents. On gambling he said: "Proteger a los y las más jóvenes de la proliferación de los salones de juego es una cuestión de salud pública y de responsabilidad política".

The plan now goes to public information for one month for the submission of representations. Sectoral reports follow, then provisional approval by the Pleno and definitive approval by the Territorial Urban Planning Commission of Alt Pirineu. It was reported that La Seu d'Urgell joins other municipalities using urban planning to curb the opening of gaming venues, such as Gijón, which has seen two of its three betting venues close in recent years.