
Farewell to an era. Barcelona City Council closes all its Twitter channels and becomes the first major Spanish city to join the global and general wave of rejection of the social network X (formerly Twitter) after the Nazi salutes that its current president, Elon Musk, made at the inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States and the general drift that the social network has made to become, according to many voices, in a space too permissive with fake news and ultra-right tendencies.
In this way , the City of Barcelona will close its nearly 80 municipal channels. From Friday, January 31, the consistory will maintain only the account @bcn_ajuntament, which will be used exclusively to disseminate information on emergencies, weather alerts and mobility affectations.
The reasons for the closure
This decision, which will be formalized by a decree signed by Mayor Jaume Collboni, makes Barcelona the first major Spanish city to take this measure, joining other European capitals, institutions and media that have recently abandoned the platform.The City Council justifies this drastic decision based on its commitment to the right of citizens to receive “truthful and honest information”.
In a statement, the council argues that this premise has become incompatible with remaining on X, which it describes as immersed in a “spiral of disinformation and intransigence that directly threatens democracy”. In addition, the City Council reaffirms its willingness to remain at the forefront of technological humanism and digital democracy, considering that this decision is congruent with these values.
In this way, it closes an era of about a decade where a microblogging platform like Twitter (or X), had become, in a “natural” way, the closest and most immediate means of communication not only for individuals, but for institutions such as an entire Barcelona City Council.
What information channels can be consulted?
While the municipal presence on X will be drastically reduced, the City Council assures that municipal information will continue to be accessible through other official channels, including:
- The City Council website: https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/es/
- Newsletters: https://comunica.barcelona.cat/
- Municipal mobile applications: https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/apps/es
- Other social networks: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, Telegram and YouTube.
- X (Twitter): The City Council will maintain only the @bcn_ajuntament account for emergency communications, weather alerts or mobility issues.