The right of admission is the tool that allows limiting access to the discretion of the owner of the premises. Knowing the correct application of this right is really useful because it will allow us to avoid mistakes that may result in complaints, high economic sanctions or even the closure of our premises.
Today, we will develop this concept more in depth, we will speak about what it is, about how the Spanish legislation acts with respect to this object and how we can apply it in case we want to do it. All this below.
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Knowing and understanding the right of admission is essential for entrepreneurs and employees of public establishments, especially in the nightlife sector, such as bars, pubs and nightclubs, which is where it is mostly applied, to avoid problems within the venue.
Knowing the correct application of the right of admission will avoid errors of interpretation that can lead to complaints and the imposition of penalties of thousands of euros and even the prohibition of activity in the entertainment venue.
The right of admission is “the right by virtue of which the owner of the establishment and/or event reserves the right to admit or exclude third parties from such places provided that the exclusion is based on objective conditions of admission and permanence”, that is to say, the right of the owners of a commercial establishment or event organizer to decide who can enter and stay in the business or show and under conditions, within legal limits.
These audience selection criteria are generally made to preserve the security of the event or entertainment venue and to avoid problems such as fights and other altercations that may affect other customers. Each owner decides what criteria to use that are within the law.
If you want to exercise the right of admission in your bar or nightclub, you must do it properly, with respect and integrity towards the fundamental rights of people without incurring in acts of discrimination that could lead to legal problems. You cannot deny access for no reason; there must be objective reasons, not subjective ones.
Hence the importance of knowing the law regulating the right of admission in Spain and the regulations in each autonomous community, if applicable.
The basis of the right of admission in Spain is established in Article 14 of the Constitution, Chapter Two on rights and freedoms, which speaks of the equality of Spaniars before the law without any discrimination on the grounds or birth, race, sex, religion, opinion or any other personal circumstance.
In addition, the organizers of public events and establishments are obliged to adopt measures to facilitate the access and permanence of people with disabilities.
In Spain, the right of admission is regulated in the General Regulation of Police of Public Entertainment and Recreational Activities developed from the Organic Law 4/2015. However, each autonomous community elaborates its own rules without contradicting what the law says.
Despite the fact that each autonomy has its own regulations, the general guidelines of the law state that access can be limited in the following cases:
We already know the law that regulates this right and that there are different regulations depending on each territory but, now, who can exercise or limit admission?
The current regulations state that, in the case of an event or recreational activity in a public space, it is the owner of the business who is authorized to exercise the right of admission, in addition to the employees depending on the owner, and the security forces can also intervene if necessary.
But when we talk about recreational activities, events and public establishments such as commercial premises, it will be the personnel accredited as admission service or security guards who are authorized to exercise ir, without in any case carrying any type of weapon.
In order to reserve the right of admission in your bar, pub or nightclub, certain conditions and requirements must be met. The first thing to do is to go to the Administration to submit the application.
Although the regulation is different in each autonomous community, the procedure to request the Authorization of Right of Admission is similar.
The authorization can be requested, at any time, by all the holders who have an Opening License for the exercise of an activity of public spectacles, recreational activities and public establishments. The resolution time will depend on each autonomous region.
The following are the general steps to establish the criteria for the admission of people in a public establishment such as bars, pubs or nightclubs.
Once you have obtained the authorization of right of admission, it is essential to place the poster in the most visible areas of the bar or nightclub, such as the entrance, the bar, the ticket offices and other areas that you consider visible, in which the conditions or requirements of admission are exposed so that the client can have knowledge of them. You can even include it in advertising.
If you have included extra conditions, which are not within the law, you must also expose them with its proper seal and/or signature
As we have said before, you cannot prohibit entry in an arbitrary or discriminatory way, since the rights of admission has certain limits. However, in many nightclubs and bars these circumstances occur.
On many occasions, there are promotions in which women do not have to pay admission and men do or vice versa. This practice is illegal, since people are not being treated equally and are being differentiated on the basis of sex.
This situation also happens a lot in the nightlife worl. Charging some people less and others more, especially in the case of women. The difference in prince at the entrance can in no way be justified, as it is forbidden by law, again the right to equality is violated.
Another recurrent practice in the nightlife sector is to establish an access limit for people over 18 years of age, which goes against the principle of equality, since in Spain the age of majority is 18 years old. Entry may be prohibited to minors, but entry may not be limited to those who meet this requirement.
The right of admission must be justified, the doorman of the nightclub or bar cannot prohibit entry simply by pointing out the sign, there must be a circumstance that violates the rules
Many bars, pubs and nightclubs require a certain dress code to enter, because they want to target a specific audience and that the place retains its style. This is one of the cases in which the right of admission can be applied, as long as these conditions have been authorized by the competent authority and are detailed in the right of admission sign. However, it only covers clothing and accessories; access cannot be prohibited for wearing a certain haircut for the length of the hair.
People cannot be denied access simply for being tattoed, unless it is a symbol, as mentioned above, that incites violence and/or discrimination.
If the person in question has broken the rules established in the right of admission, such as disturbing the order, violent behavior, among others, the employer an/or employees of the place are entitled to remove him.
Correctly applying the right of admission in your bar, pub, nightclub or party halls will save you a lot of headaches.