Parque Lleras Medellín 2026: Only 7 of 24 Venues Still Open

Parque Lleras, the El Poblado nightlife square many first-time visitors treat as Medellín’s default night out, is visibly thinning out. In a report published October 17, 2026, El Colombiano says only 7 of the 24 establishments affiliated with the bar association Asobares in the zone are still open.

Short answer: Parque Lleras is still open in October 2026, but expect fewer open venues, frequent police and Migración Colombia (the national immigration authority) ID checks, and quieter nights. The 7-of-24 figure comes from a single El Colombiano report that we could not cross-check.

The paper reports the 7 that remain open; any “17 closed” figure would be our own subtraction, and the 24 are Asobares-affiliated establishments, not necessarily all bars. Below is what the reporting says, who is saying it, and what is still unclear.

What El Colombiano reported

Asobares (the local bar-owners association) director Juan Pablo Valenzuela attributes many of the closures mainly to too little tourist and visitor traffic, according to the paper. Business owners quoted in the same piece describe steep drops:

Business	Reported change	Timeframe
Chiilin Rooftop (partner Sebastián Londoño)	Sales down 85% to 90%; close to shutting	Four to six months
Artisan shop, about 20 years in the zone (owner Sara García)	Sales down up to 80%	Four years
Laundry and café (Alba Callejas)	Daily sales from about COP 1 million to COP 300,000; staff from four to one	Not specified

These are merchants’ own accounts, reported by El Colombiano as of October 2026, in Colombian pesos (COP). They are not audited figures, and the article does not give a citywide sales dataset.

Why merchants say it is happening

Police and migration checks

Since March 2024 the city has run “Plan Lleras” with the Police, the Army and Migración Colombia to address security, order and coexistence in the zone, according to El Colombiano’s October 17, 2026 report.

The plan followed a March 2024 case in which a foreign man was found in a hotel with two minors, aged 12 and 13, per El Colombiano. The paper cites child sexual exploitation victim counts in the zone of 298 (2021), 197 (2022) and 240 (2023); these are El Colombiano’s figures, and we did not trace them to the underlying official dataset.

Police presence in the zone is not new. In May 2023, the Quintero administration began fencing Parque Lleras with controlled access points, reported by Publimetro and Blu Radio.

That same month, a Medellín administrative court admitted a popular action challenging the fencing of Parque Lleras and Plaza Botero, according to El Colombiano and Blu Radio. We did not find the final ruling.

In July 2025, a multi-agency operation including Police and Army personnel in the park led to 10 businesses being temporarily suspended, according to El Tiempo.

In April 2024, Mayor Federico Gutiérrez also signed Decreto 0248 of 2024, which for six months suspended requests for sexual services, and related offers and promotion, in public space in Parque Lleras, Provenza, Calle 10 and the Parque de El Poblado, according to Blu Radio and Publimetro. Those 2024 reports do not say whether it was later extended.

Merchants say business groups support controls against illegal activity but argue the campaigns stigmatize ordinary tourists. Valenzuela says he has seen operations with 25 police officers, lasting two to three hours, and that venues are asked for eight days of documents. Londoño calls the controls “exagerados… totalmente desmedidos” (exaggerated, totally disproportionate). The paper presents the city’s position as a security effort, not a business policy.

Rent and labor costs

Juanita Cogollo of Corporación Provenza (a business group for the Provenza area) told El Colombiano that some landlords charge monthly rents of up to COP 42 million (as of October 2026). Fenalco Antioquia (the regional retail and hospitality trade federation) director María José Bernal Gaviria says operating costs have risen more than 30%, citing the minimum wage increase, night surcharges and the reduced workweek. She says several restaurants plan to close after December.

Bernal also said she is “totally certain” that recovering Lleras is possible.

A slump that predates 2026

Dated timeline of what the sources report:

• Until 2015: the paper says the zone was a “pink zone” of nightlife.
• 2020: the paper says the area’s deterioration began consolidating.
• May 2023: access-controlled fencing begins (Publimetro, Blu Radio).
• March–April 2024: after the child exploitation case, Plan Lleras starts and the city decrees a one-month pilot capping venue hours at 1:00 a.m. in April; per RCN, Asobares president Juan Pablo Valenzuela rejected it as disproportionate and warned of job and income losses.
• About April 11, 2024: per Telemedellín, the Alcaldía changed the schedule again, letting venues stay open until 3:00 a.m. and later 4:00 a.m., so the 1:00 a.m. cap did not run a full month.
• July 2025: multi-agency control operation (El Tiempo).
• October 2026: El Colombiano reports 7 of 24 Asobares venues open.

Parque Lleras Medellín in 2026: what it means for visitors

For context on nightlife safety elsewhere in the city, we have also covered scopolamine robberies in El Poblado and Laureles and the late-night stabbing of an Australian visitor in Laureles. The city’s wider crackdown on narcotourism also reached El Poblado this week with the Pablo Escobar house demolition.

Practical takeaways, based on the reporting:

• Expect ID checks. Merchants describe document verification during operations in the zone. We found no official guidance specific to Parque Lleras, so check Migración Colombia for current rules on documents foreigners should carry.
• Expect fewer open venues. Check a bar’s current hours or social media before going; closures are ongoing.
• Look beyond one square. Our guide to rooftop bars in El Poblado shows the neighborhood’s nightlife is wider than the park.
• Watch after December. Fenalco’s warning of closures means the picture may change early in 2027.

Parque Lleras FAQ

How many bars are open in Parque Lleras? El Colombiano reported on October 17, 2026 that 7 of 24 Asobares-affiliated establishments in the zone remain open. We could not verify that count independently.

Why are bars closing? Merchants cite fewer tourists, police and migration operations, high rents and rising labor costs. The article presents the city’s actions as a security effort.

Is Parque Lleras safe for tourists? The zone has a heavy security presence: access controls since 2023 and joint Police, Army and Migración Colombia operations, per the sources above. That doesn’t remove risk. Drink-spiking and scopolamine robberies are a documented problem in El Poblado, covered in our scopolamine robbery report. Don’t accept drinks from strangers, use registered taxis or ride apps, and see our late-night safety coverage.

Do I need my passport there? We found no Parque Lleras-specific rule. Merchants describe document checks during operations, and Migración Colombia is one of the agencies taking part, so carry your passport (or a clear copy) and keep your entry record handy. Confirm current requirements on the Migración Colombia site.

What is Plan Lleras? A city program with the Police, the Army and Migración Colombia, running since March 2024, aimed at security, order and coexistence in the zone, per El Colombiano.

What we could not verify

We could not independently confirm Asobares’ membership count or any merchant’s sales figures, and we found no official city response to the closure numbers beyond what El Colombiano reports. We will update this post if the Alcaldía or Asobares publishes data.