A new governance model to shape Barcelona's night life, a conversation with Carmen Zapata, Barcelona’s First-Ever Night Commissioner
- Music Cities Events
- 24 hours ago
- 6 min read
"The Barcelona Night Council brings together nearly a hundred stakeholders in an annual forum, while its permanent commission works year-round through specialized working groups to tackle the city's key nightlife challenges"
Carmen Zapata, Barcelona’s First-Ever Night Commissioner
In 2025, having a Night Mayor or a Night Time Economy Office is not a new thing, as cities like Manheim, London and Boston already have one. However, Barcelona is changing the game by installing a new governance model to guide its work.
A few months after being named Barcelona's First-Ever Night Commissioner, Carmen Zapata, announced a comprehensive action plan to promote a peaceful, diverse and decentralised nightlife in Barcelona. This is a plan that looks out to ensure that the city’s nightlife balances the needs of those seeking rest and those enjoying nighttime leisure in all its forms.
This is a big challenge, so how will the Night Time Commission be able to achieve this? Carmen's main bet is through a new governance model that once per year will gather 100 different city stakeholders in an attempt to make the difference voices of the city be heard.
We're thrilled by Carmen's appointed and how it will support Barcelona's music ecosystem in the coming years. That's why we're very excited to share our recent interview with her.
Read the conversation in which we discuss her music advocacy career, her feminist vision for music policy and some insights into this new governance model for the city's nightlife.
Interview by Liliana Ramírez
What does it mean for Barcelona to have a Night Commissioner?
Carmen: “One of the most important aspects of having a nighttime governance figure is being able to have a comprehensive view of what happens in the city at night, between 18h and 6h, as well as facilitating dialogue between all individuals, organizations, and entities involved in nighttime activities”.
Other cities like Paris, New York, Amsterdam, and London already had nighttime governance. Do you feel that Barcelona needed this figure?
Carmen: “Yes, I believe Barcelona needed this figure because it was a recurring demand from the culture, music, and nightlife sectors, as well as from those working in municipal government and political parties who saw it as essential for nighttime management”.
You were co-founder and former president of the ‘Women in Music Industry Association’ (MIM), a role that earned you awards such as the ‘Primavera Award’ in 2018 and the ‘KeyChange Award’ in 2021. Do you think it is significant that a woman was appointed to this role? Does this precedent reflect the city's commitment to equality in your work as Commissioner?
Carmen: “I think it is always extremely important to appoint women to positions of responsibility. In this case, I am obviously not impartial because I am the one who was offered this great challenge and responsibility. So, yes, I am always happy and in favor of women being in more places of representation and decision-making.
Of course, in everything I am working on, a feminist perspective is present, as it could not be otherwise, given my background, age, and experience. Everything related to nightlife prevention, facilitation, and the expansion of protocols ensuring zero harassment, promoting activities for women and diversity, is part of the new lines of nighttime governance”.
The creation of the ‘Barcelona Night Council’ has been announced, a body that brings together representatives from all sectors, where decisions will be made by consensus to enhance nightlife. What will be the Council's functions?
Carmen: “The Barcelona Night Council is a body chaired by the Mayor and vice-chaired by the Night Commissioner, comprising nearly a hundred stakeholders. It is a forum for participation, dialogue, and interaction among all actors linked to nightlife in the city, with a preventive approach and aimed at providing a strategic, co-responsible, and proactive response to Barcelona's nightlife. The council meets once a year with the intention of strengthening and promoting municipal policies related to nightlife as an essential component of the city model.
Within the Council, the permanent commission of the Night Council serves as its executive body, providing support and advice and ensuring more agile and effective actions for cross-sector coordination, shared responsibility, and the improvement of the quality of actions in the nightlife sector. It can undertake specific tasks or create working groups and meet several times throughout the year, with around 39 members, including municipal officials and nightlife stakeholders.
In the first meeting, we created five specific working groups focused on nighttime culture and heritage, economic development, prevention and coexistence, public space and mobility, and sustainability and innovation".
In 2021, The Citizens’ Roundtable for a Civic and Safe Night was launched, bringing together 80 agents and entities, including administrations, neighbors, and the nightlife sector. What were the main agreements reached at that table?
Carmen: “The Citizens’ Roundtable for a Civic and Safe Night emerged post-pandemic when we experienced challenges in coexistence, and in terms of nightlife, there was an increase in large gatherings and crowds of young people in public spaces, especially after curfew restrictions and the closure of establishments.
It highlighted the need for regulated spaces for leisure that promote coexistence, safety, and social well-being, leading the City Council to launch the Action Plan for a Civic and Safe Night (2021). The roundtable helped identify the main problems and establish action lines to improve coexistence, safety, and the quality of nightlife in Barcelona”.
Do you have any plans to strengthen the circuit of emerging musicians in the city? Considering that artists who are now global pop icons, like Alizz, El Guincho, Refree, La Casa Azul, or Rosalía, have emerged from here.
Carmen: “Right now, I do not have a specific plan to strengthen the circuit of emerging musicians in the city. What does concern me is ensuring that all existing venues remain healthy and continue to offer live music.
Barcelona is a musical city, home to four higher music education institutions, which means we have a wealth of musical talent emerging every year that needs stages to perform.
Therefore, I am fully committed to doing everything in my power to ensure that these venues are preserved, and that classifications and regulations are updated to support a thriving live music culture in the city”.
Five years after the pandemic, how do you evaluate this event that altered habits and how people experience the city at night? What were the main challenges then, and what do you think still needs to be addressed?
Carmen: “I believe the pandemic undoubtedly had an effect on all of us. We experienced a city that did not exist before, in every sense. It was a time when we could hear birds and use the city differently, which gave us a kinder perception of some urban aspects”.
Finally, appealing to Barcelona as one of the most special daytime and nighttime capitals for music in the world, can you name some of your favorite music venues in this city?
Carmen: “There are many places in this city that I love, but I will highlight a few that may not be as well known and that I particularly like. One is Casa Astor, a very small and charming venue. Another is L'Occulta, which I recently discovered in Raval, where very interesting music is programmed, including a whole Afro-Arab scene that is probably unknown to many”.
Musicians performing at the El Grec Theatre in Barcelona. Photo credit: Ayuntamiento de Barcelona
Carmen Zapata's work on reimagining nightlife as a space for coexistence and cultural expression highlights how nighttime policy can shape the soul of a city. But how can we turn this vision into meaningful change within our own communities?
That's exactly what we'll be exploring at the Fayetteville Arkansas Music Cities Convention, September 16–18, 2025.
Join us alongside leaders like Carmen Zapata and a global community of changemakers as we explore how nightlife can be a powerful space for cultural citizenship. Together, we’ll delve into strategies that use music, arts, and nighttime culture to shape inclusive policies, strengthen community ties, and build more equitable, vibrant cities after dark
Ready to turn inspiration into impact?
🎟️ Get your tickets at: musiccitiesevents.com/fayetteville-mcc-2025
Let’s collaborate to build cities where culture isn’t just valued, it’s foundational.
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