The builders qualify to the Government: there are 3,000 homes underway of the Plan 50,000, not 31,000

BarcelonaCatalan construction companies have stated that the Generalitat has only put out to tender 3,000 flats from the famous Plan 50,000, thus qualifying what the President of the Government, Salvador Illa, said, who said there were 31,041 "underway" during an intervention in Parliament in October. Furthermore, they have warned that "none are finished". The Catalan executive committed to incorporate 50,000 affordable rental flats into the market, which are to be built by 2030.

"What the president says is underway is because he has it in mind, but urban generation plans still need to be changed. He considers them done", warned the president of the Chamber of Contractors of Public Works of Catalonia (CCOC), Lluís Moreno, who did admit that Illa has them, most likely, located.

He detailed that four lots have been put out to tender, 2,000 by the Generalitat and the remaining thousand by the city councils, and that they are "distributed throughout all the regions". In this scenario, Moreno has predicted that it will not be until 2040 that the 50,000 homes will be ready.

In 2025, 16,562 homes were completed in Catalonia in total, 25% more than the previous year, but 15,589 were started, 0.01% less than in 2024. From the CCOC, they estimate that 30,000 finished homes need to be introduced to the market each year to respond to population growth and the characteristics of new households. The production of public housing only represents 2% of the total.

Optimism in the sector

The construction sector grew by 5.4% in 2025, including housing, infrastructure, and other non-residential buildings. Thus, construction is growing again for the first time since 2019 above the pace of the Catalan economy –gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 2.7%–, although it has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels.Moreno has expressed “contained optimism” regarding the future of the activity, because “anything can derail optimism”, in a macroeconomic and geopolitical environment “of high volatility”. The demand for housing and the planned public investment in infrastructure seem to be incentivizing future activity. Specifically, the CCOC forecasts that residential construction will increase by between 2.5% and 3% this year, and by between 3% and 4% in 2027. The entity attributes the growth expectations to the "strength of demand," although it highlights "the slow response of supply." The segment of construction that will gain the most momentum will be civil works – railway, energy, hydraulic, and road infrastructure – which will grow up to 6% this year and between 3.5% and 6% next year. On the other hand, constructors warn that public tender budgets "do not reflect real prices", driven by the war in Iran and the crisis in Hormuz. Compared to 2020, material costs have soared by 30% and labor costs by 20.2%. Moreno recalled that companies "cannot assume unlimited risks" and has demanded that administrations include price review mechanisms in the tender documents. Last year, in 45% of tenders, only one or two companies competed.Budget execution

The construction companies have once again cried foul over the budgetary execution of administrations, especially the State's. As Foment del Treball pointed out in a study, the Spanish government has executed 57.4% of the promised investment in Catalonia between 2009 and 2025, and the Generalitat, 89.6%. Thus, the two administrations accumulate deficits of 12,935.4 million euros and 3,107 million euros, respectively.Construction represents 4.4% of the Catalan economy, a figure that "is not serious" because it is an "highly diversified and service-based" economy, according to Rubén Gil, author of the report. Nevertheless, he opined that "it is not incompatible to have a developed economy and a construction sector with a significant weight", as is the case in the Basque Country, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands or France, where it is around 5%.