The city of Barcelona has banned dark stores, which is the practice of converting physical stores into e-commerce fulfillment centers.  The city argued that these stores caused excessive disturbances to communities. More: Similarly, Amsterdam and Rotterdam imposed a moratorium on opening new dark stores in February 2022. As a result, delivery firms in the Netherlands promised not to open locations in central shopping streets, pedestrian zones, or near schools. Among those that signed the pledge were Flink, Getir, and Gorillas. With these bans, municipal governments want to push dark stores outside city centers and toward out-of-town industrial and commercial parks.