ADI-FAD, the Industrial Design Association of FAD, has announced a design competition, supported by Barcelona City Council, to define new terrace elements for La Rambla. The call forms part of the council's plan to turn the full promenade into Barcelona's first Terrace Excellence Zone, with a single style guide for outdoor seating used by bars and restaurants.

For businesses on La Rambla, the competition matters because the new designs are intended for the terraces that will return as works on the central section progress. The council said in April that terrace licences in the central stretch had been temporarily suspended because of the remodelling works, which have been under way since January, and that terraces would return gradually under new ordering and design criteria.

The City Council will call a public competition for the design of three elements: the auxiliary furniture, the chalkboard, and a delimiting element, in collaboration with two FAD associations: Adi-FAD and Arquin-FAD.

According to the council's 13 April announcement on the new La Rambla terrace model, the style guide covers technical and aesthetic criteria for terrace elements including tables, chairs and parasols, while seeking what it described as a unified image with room for some individual character between premises.

What ADI-FAD is responsible for

The new announcement makes ADI-FAD the organiser of the competition, with support from the Ajuntament de Barcelona, Barcelona City Council. In the earlier municipal plan, the council said the public competition would be organised in collaboration with ADI-FAD and Arquin-FAD, both associations within FAD, the design and architecture foundation.

The competition is specifically for three terrace elements named by the council in April:

  • auxiliary furniture
  • the chalkboard
  • a delimiting element

The official announcement of the competition was published by the Barcelona City Council Press Room on Sunday 13 July 2026.

How the new terrace model affects La Rambla

The wider policy was set out by the council on 13 April 2026, when it began the procedure to declare La Rambla a Terrace Excellence Zone and approve its own style guide, agreed with Amics de la Rambla and the Gremi de Restauració, the restaurant guild. That proposal applies to the whole of La Rambla, not only the section currently affected by works.

The council said the remodelling is now in its third phase and that terraces had already been removed from establishments in the central section. The aim is for their return to happen progressively and, where possible, under the new design rules rather than the previous model.

Separate reporting on the April announcement said the target is for the new terrace model to be in place by February 2027, when redevelopment works on La Rambla are scheduled to finish. The same reporting said the new layout would reduce the number of terrace tables by 16%, but that figure does not appear in the council press material provided here.

What residents and businesses can do now

Residents and business owners who want to follow the scheme can monitor the official competition announcement and the council's earlier La Rambla terrace style guide announcement, which sets out the framework for the changes.

For terrace operators, the next confirmed step is the design competition itself, organised by ADI-FAD with council support, as the city prepares the elements that will be used when terraces are reintroduced. For residents, the practical change is that La Rambla's future terraces are being standardised across the promenade as part of the ongoing remodelling and the new Terrace Excellence Zone.

In short, the city has moved from announcing a new style guide in April to formally launching, through ADI-FAD, the competition for three specific terrace elements on 13 July 2026.

Primary sources: ajuntament.barcelona.cat, Ramon. Reported by amicsdelarambla.cat, catalannews.com, europapress.es, Natàlia Vila, larazon.es.