Since 2016, Barcelona has officially been a vegetarian and vegan-friendly city. So what exactly does that mean? Well, it means that one of the city’s left-wing parties presented a bill to City Hall which was accepted. Now Barcelona – the land of cured meat – will take action to encourage their population to embrace a plant-based diet. The state has begun to take an active role in reducing meat consumption, which could mean that Barcelona is the perfect vacation destination for all you vegans. Read on to find out what the veggie-friendly bill means and where you can secure some top quality (not to mention healthy) vegan food.
BCNvegPoint
One of the most tangible consequences of the veggie-friendly bill is the creation of a new BCNvegPoint. This is an initiative to provide a space for small and medium, vegetarian and vegan businesses to cooperate and interact with each other. This extra-governmental support gives plant-based enterprises an opportunity to grow.
The difficulty for many people in becoming vegan is simply the lack of services. If there were more vegan businesses, catering great vegan food, then it is likely the number of vegans will increase. Spain is already in the top ten for vegan concentration by country, but this move could push it higher up the rankings.
Meat Free Mondays
The bill also states that the government will publicize and encourage Meat Free Monday. This is a campaign set up in 2009 by Paul McCartney, along with daughters Mary and Stella. The aim here is to encourage meat-eaters to take just a single day a week to give up meat. This might not seem like much, but with millions of participants over many years, this would save immeasurable damage being done to the environment, not to mention the lives of animals.
Going meat-free has another positive effect. If each Monday, huge swathes of Barcelona give up meat, then restaurants will be under more pressure to provide a vegetarian alternative. It is also a good way to help people get used to a meat-free diet, which may encourage them to extend beyond more than just one day a week.
Top vegan restaurants in Barcelona
Barcelona has a young and trendy population so vegan restaurants are popping up all the time as well as their vegetarian sisters and brothers, which are better established. It would be almost impossible to list them all, let alone eat at each one. Honorable mentions include the takeaway Bio Bento, Sesamo at the Sant Antoni foodies district, trendy Teresa Carles, and raw vegan restaurant El Cafe Blueproject. While these are both setup by and dedicated to the vegan community, you’ll find that plenty of traditional restaurants are rapidly adding vegan dishes to their menu.
Since Barcelona officially declared itself as a veggie-friendly city, it has gone from the land of the meat to a vegan haven. If you eat a mostly plant-based diet, then you should have no problem finding healthy and delicious food in this city. Barcelona combines its traditional master cuisine with changing societal trends to produce vegan food as good as its meat and dairy alternatives.
And in case you are into an immersion into Catalan gastronomy and learning tons of local culture, our foodie experiences in Barcelona are vegan or vegetarian-friendly! Cheers!
