The removal of traditional stores from the old city center, known as the Gothic Quarter, is “a criminal loss of patrimony in a city that is getting drowned by big money and international brands and is losing all sense of history, order and proper urban planning,” said Josep Maria Roig, the owner of La Colmena, a pastry shop founded in 1872.

Mr. Roig, who is also the secretary of an association of traditional stores, estimates that 100 more stores will shut their doors in Barcelona this year because their owners cannot afford the higher rents. Across Spain, about 200,000 store owners may be affected, according to UPTA, the professional and autonomous workers’ union that represents independent store owners.

Xavier Banchs, the toy store owner here, used to pay 1,000 euros, or about $1,275, a month in rent for his shop, the Palacio del Juguete (the Toy Palace), which his family has owned since 1936, when Spain’s Civil War started.

He handed it over to Geox, which is paying about €35,000 a month for his former shop, according to Mr. Banchs. Geox also paid him some extra cash to move out and cover the cost of laying off three employees who had sold his toys for decades but were no longer needed in his smaller shop, a former storage room that costs €800 a month in rent.

“This has been a long countdown, so I’ve had time to get over the sorrow of moving out and getting rid of my staff,” Mr. Banchs said.