Barcelona has simplified the procedures for night-time goods distribution: since May 5, 2025, companies can obtain authorization within a maximum of one month through a simple notification, without the need for a formal decree. The permit, valid for two years, allows deliveries within a two-hour window between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., even in street areas not originally designated for loading and unloading.
This administrative simplification reinforces the Municipal Urban Freight Distribution Strategy (EDUM), which sets the goal of reaching 500 authorizations by 2030. At Rhenus, we welcome this institutional boost: we’ve been working with night-time delivery for over five years and know from first-hand experience that it’s an efficient, sustainable, and entirely viable solution.
Today, Barcelona has around 80 active night-time delivery authorizations. With this new simplified procedure, the City Council expects to double that number in the coming months. The goal is to reduce daytime traffic congestion, lower emissions, and optimize urban logistics in sectors such as retail, hospitality, and food. Precisely the sectors where Rhenus has been delivering tailored night-time solutions for years.
Five years of experience: the value of a proven model
At Rhenus, we have over five years of experience operating night-time deliveries. We've developed this logistics model in collaboration with major retail chains, supermarkets, hospitals, and HORECA businesses. What began as an innovative solution is now a structural part of our urban distribution offering.
This experience allows us to provide a highly optimized service, tailored to each client’s specific needs and supported by proprietary technology that ensures full traceability, security, and operational control, even in unattended environments.
This type of operation is especially well-suited to sectors with constant restocking needs, such as food, fashion, tech equipment, or healthcare facilities. It also enables deliveries to be made without disrupting regular commercial activity, something that’s highly valued by both businesses and cities.
Barcelona, aligned with Europe
The push for night-time logistics is part of a broader vision: achieving zero-emissions urban distribution by 2030, as set out by the European Commission. Cities like Madrid, Paris, and Amsterdam have already launched similar strategies.
In this context, Rhenus' extensive experience in night-time delivery positions us as a ready and reliable partner for adapting to the new regulatory frameworks. With our technology, security protocols, and operational planning, we are fully prepared to scale the night-time delivery model in step with the pace set by each city.
The advantages of night-time delivery with Rhenus
Partnering with Rhenus for night-time logistics means working with an operation that is designed, tested, and optimized. Here are some of the key advantages we offer:
- Logistics efficiency: by operating during low-traffic hours, we improve delivery times and reduce the total number of trips.
- Greater sustainability: fewer journeys, higher vehicle load capacity, and more direct routes lead to lower emissions and reduced noise impact.
- Direct access to delivery points: we avoid interference with daytime activity and enable direct access to stores, hotels, or logistics hubs.
- Service flexibility: we offer both attended and unattended deliveries, with secure access control systems and full traceability of every delivery.
- Smart technology: real-time monitoring, digital documentation, photos at key points… All designed to ensure transparency and service quality.
The city of the future is also built at night
At Rhenus, we firmly believe that the future of urban distribution lies in quieter, cleaner, and more efficient models, and night-time delivery is a key component. That’s why we welcome Barcelona’s commitment to authorize up to 500 night-time delivery points by 2030, and we’re fully ready to support that goal with solutions that are already up and running.
“Night-time delivery is not a trend, it’s a reality that’s increasingly well-established,” says Andreu Gutiérrez, Country Sales Director Road at Rhenus Group in Spain. “We’ve been developing night-time delivery solutions for different sectors for years, and it’s becoming ever clearer that this model aligns perfectly with the demands for efficiency, sustainability, and urban harmony that cities are calling for. The institutional support we’re seeing across Spain, along with the European Commission’s commitment, will be key in making this distribution model a structural part of urban logistics.”
If you’d like to dive deeper into the operational, environmental, and urban advantages of this model, we invite you to read another article we published on the topic, where we explain why night-time logistics is becoming one of the key pillars for the future of urban distribution.