In short: two permissions that often get confused
To open a shop, an office or a clinic in refurbished premises you need two different things: permission for the works themselves and legalisation of the activity in those premises. Low-impact activities usually only need a notification or a declaración responsable; more complex ones need a full activity licence. Healthcare activity generally also requires health authorisation from the Departament de Salut.
The practical consequence is simple: the activity regime sets the requirements for the premises, and therefore for the fit-out. So it is checked before signing the lease and before the design, not once the walls are already painted.
What decides the activity regime
The regime depends on the type of activity, the floor area, the expected occupancy and the impact on the surroundings: noise, smells, smoke, hazardous substances. An office or a clothes shop with no kitchen and no music usually follows a simple procedure. A restaurant with an extraction hood, a bar with music or a clinic with medical equipment follows a more complex one, with a technical project and extra checks.
On top of that, some Barcelona neighbourhoods have land-use plans that restrict certain activities, such as food and drink venues. Which regime applies in your case, and how long processing takes, is confirmed with the town hall and the technical consultant.
What to check before signing the lease
Before leasing or buying premises, check five things. Whether planning rules allow your activity at that address. Whether there is step-free access from the street or one can be created: a single step at the entrance often becomes a problem. Whether ceiling height and escape route widths are enough for your occupancy. Whether an extract duct can be taken up to the roof, if you need one. And whether the statutes of the comunidad de propietarios prohibit your activity in the building.
The previous tenant's licence may help if the activity is the same, but it does not guarantee it will cover yours. Checking before leasing costs a few hours of a consultant's time; getting it wrong after signing costs months and money.
Activity requirements that change the fit-out
Fire safety: compartmentation, fire-rated doors and partitions, emergency lighting, escape signage, extinguishers. Accessibility: the entrance, corridor widths, an accessible toilet. Ventilation with the fresh-air rates the regulations require. Sound insulation if the activity is noisy or there are homes above.
Clinics add requirements for consulting rooms: hand basins, finishes that can be disinfected, waste areas and sometimes separate staff toilets. All of this goes into the design and the quote from the start. If the requirements come to light after the finishes, part of the work will have to be redone.
An example: the child psychology centre in the Eixample
We fitted out the 250 m² child psychology centre in the Eixample between January and June 2026. The works ran alongside the legalisation of the healthcare activity, and that shaped decisions from the very first drawings.
The project included 24 concealed doors and a climate system with heat recovery. Concealed doors give a calm interior, which matters when working with children, but each one also has to fit the escape routes and the requirements for openings. Heat recovery brings fresh air into the consulting rooms without draughts or unnecessary heat loss. Solutions like these are checked against the activity requirements at design stage, not adjusted to them after installation.
Who is responsible for what
The activity project and the final certificate are prepared by a competent technical professional, an architect or an engineer depending on the activity. They file the documents and are responsible for regulatory compliance. The contractor builds to that project and is responsible for the quality of the work.
On these projects we work with the activity consultant from day one. On the BCN YARD side, one person is responsible for the project, speaking to you in Russian or Spanish and to the consultant and the town hall in Spanish. That way the project requirements reach the quote and the site without getting lost in translation.
The order of steps
First, an enquiry to the town hall about whether the activity is allowed at the address, and a meeting with the consultant. Then a single project covering both the works and the activity requirements. After that comes the works permit, the fit-out, the final documentation and the filing of the notification, declaration or licence application for the activity, plus health authorisation for a clinic. Depending on the regime, there may be an inspection before or after opening.
How long each step takes depends on the municipality and the activity, so plan the opening date with some slack. A lease that starts running from day one is worth negotiating with the landlord to include a period for works and legalisation.