94.3% of Barcelona residents consider that the Catalan capital has a “serious” problem with housing. This is highlighted in the latest municipal barometer, prepared by Barcelona City Council, which reflects how this issue has become a headache for a large part of the population.
The average rental price in Barcelona is 1,131 euros, which is 1% more than the previous year. Now, it is worth noting that since the cap on rents was applied due to the housing law, rents dropped 5% in just one quarter.
But the declaration of Barcelona as a tense area has not alleviated the concern of Barcelona residents. On the contrary. For two years now, housing has been the second most serious problem in the city, but in just the last six months this issue has grown by 12 points, technically tying it with insecurity, which continues to be the main concern of Barcelona residents despite the fact that Crime figures have not stopped falling since the pandemic.
Today, housing is what keeps 28.8% of Barcelona’s residents up at night the most, while this summer it was only for 16.6%. Now, the percentages vary quite a bit if you look at them by age: if you take the youngest segments of the population, housing is the biggest concern for people under 44 years of age (with an average of 37%).
On the other hand, after that age, insecurity takes over and becomes the biggest problem, with an average of 28%. This reality must be crossed with other data that is no less important. And 56% of citizens live in a purchased apartment (a third has already paid in full and a quarter still has a mortgage). The average year of home acquisition is 1999, that is, 25 years ago.
The purchase, therefore, leaves out the youngest segments of citizens, who live in rent (34.1% of Barcelona) and are also those who are most concerned about the housing crisis.
In fact, more than half of Barcelona residents have a problem when it comes to paying for their homes. For a third (35.3%) the problem is “big”, while for 18.8% the problem is “assumable”.
For years, the debate on housing has been at the center of the public agenda and various measures have been taken to address the issue, such as the regulation of rental prices. But the one that seems most appropriate to the people of Barcelona is to build more public housing.
Secondly, there is the limitation of housing for tourist use, a typology that Mayor Jaume Collboni announced that he intends to close in its entirety by 2028. Thirdly, there is the regulation of rental prices. “Housing is one of the priority axes of this mandate and we have taken measures that are in line with these policies that have been the best valued,” said Jordi Martí, deputy mayor and head of the Economy area.
In fact, Barcelona City Council is the administration that has best addressed this crisis, according to the citizens of the Catalan capital, above the Generalitat and the Spanish Government.
The PSC would win the elections in Barcelona
The municipal barometer also includes data on voting intentions and, according to the last edition of the year, Barcelona would continue to be a socialist bastion. In the face of hypothetical municipal elections, Jaume Collboni would be the party with the most votes with 14.4% of voting intention (compared to the 11.9% it obtained in the elections). For its part, Junts would go from being the winner of the elections with 13.5% of votes to drop drastically to 5.7%.
The decline of the Comuns also stands out, who tied with the PSC in the 2023 elections, but now the voting intention, although it keeps them as the second force and would also surpass Junts, would give them 8.7% of the support.
This voting intention of Barcelona residents is maintained in the rest of the administrations. The PSC would be the party with the most votes in the Catalan capital in both the regional and general elections. In the case of elections for the Parliament, the second force would be ERC, followed by Junts and the Comuns. On the other hand, if Congress were voted, the second force would continue to be the Republicans, but in the following positions, the Comuns would surpass those of Puigdemont.
For his part, the mayor continues to be approved by the majority of citizens, but his average rating drops to 4.8%. His rating plummeted when he became main mayor (going from 4.6 to 5.1) and he became the first mayor approved by citizens since 2019, but since he has held office, the average rating has gone down. descending timidly but, for now, steadily.
That is something that has happened to all the recent mayors of Barcelona. Xavier Trias went from 5.4 to 4.9, while Ada Colau went from 5.7 to 5.2 in her re-election and, before losing office, her average grade was 4.5.
Even so, Collboni is the best-known municipal leader and one of the best valued, only surpassed by the leader of ERC, Elisenda Alamany, who enters the barometer for the first time – and through the front door – after succeeding Ernest Maragall at the helm. of training in Barcelona.
More optimism
The municipal barometer closes 2024 with an improvement in the perception of the city, with a quarter of citizens thinking that Barcelona is better. At the same time, the rate of those who think that the Catalan capital has worsened has fallen by 5.5 points, reaching its lowest level since 2018.
Likewise, the economic perception in the city has improved, with 46.4% optimistic. But there is also a deterioration in the perception of the domestic economy, with 36.4% of people believing that it has worsened. Even so, 42% of Barcelona residents believe that their personal situation will improve for the new year.
This is reflected in the municipal barometer, which is prepared every six months based on telephone surveys and which, on this occasion, consulted 805 people residing in Barcelona and with the right to vote between November 25 and December 4.
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