The Spanish economy is holding its ground despite the war in the Middle East, or at least that's what the Bank of Spain projects. The supervisory body estimates that it will grow by 2.3% in 2026 and 1.7% in 2027, as published this Thursday, thus maintaining the growth forecast from last March unchanged. At that time, however, only a few weeks had passed since the attack by the United States and Israel on Iran had passed since the attack by the United States and Israel on Iran. However, despite seeming to save face in a context of strong global uncertainty, there are some "structural problems" that could shake economic activity in the State, among which, once again, access to housing stands out: "It can lead to significant macroeconomic and social effects," according to the Annual Report of 2025Annual Report of 2025 published this Thursday by the supervisory body.

A new conflict front is opening in the La Mina neighborhood of Sant Adrià de Besòs. This morning, the Mossos d'Esquadra evicted the first three families out of the 58 that are expected to be removed in total from buildings occupied since 2017 on La Mina avenue. More evictions are planned for June 22, 25, and 29; and so on, until the building is emptied. The reason, according to the administration, is that these publicly owned apartments were built to house "the residents of the Venus building, from the same neighborhood,, and are now needed because the demolition of the building — presented as the key piece for the neighborhood's transformation — is finally planned for 2028..

The increase in housing prices is not a problem exclusive to Barcelona and its metropolitan area. In Catalan municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants, the value of the built square meter has risen by almost 63% on average between 2015 and 2025. L'ARA has compiled a ranking of municipalities where prices have soared the most in the last decade, based on sales data collected by the Generalitat.

For many years, the increase in housing prices has been discussed, especially in the city of Barcelona, but now the data show that this rise has spread like wildfire throughout the territory. In fact, if we analyze the growth in the price per square meter by municipality in the last 10 years, Barcelona is below the average, which is 63%, with 61.5%. And which are the municipalities where it has grown the most? Well, here we find surprises like Badia del Vallès, where prices have soared by 168% due, however, to the entry of many protected housing units into the free market. And then there would be cases like Argentona (120%), Viella (112%), Arenys de Munt (110%), Montmeló (106%), and Sant Cugat (101%).

Housing and inflation are the two main concerns of the Catalan and Spanish population. This is confirmed by the latest Eurobarometer from the European Parliament, where at least one in three respondents in Spain identify access to a home and the rising cost of living as the biggest headaches they have to face in their daily lives. The rising cost of rents and food is changing consumption habits and requires great effort for families – especially the most vulnerable – to adapt to the new reality. A reality that leaves less time for leisure and where any unforeseen event can unbalance a budget with ever-decreasing room for manoeuvre. And among the juggling acts of some families to balance their accounts, the following diagnosis emerges: the economic effort to fill the fridge is growing more than that of paying for housing.

Continuing with my last article, where I argued that Francoism had dire consequences for our cities, I would like to address the poisoned legacy of the mismanagement of power structures, which reacted late and poorly to the miseries of the post-war period, to the drought in the fields, and to the exodus of thousands of people from the countryside to the cities. It is often argued that Franco built many infrastructures (dams, highways, housing). He was also the driving force behind desarrollismo, with serious setbacks in urban planning. What we do not know is what kind of city we would have if the Republic had won. Surely we would now have decent public housing and neighborhoods with a better balance between housing and services, with schools, health centers, and more generous cultural spaces. But since we cannot invent history, I can only imagine. What we do know is that beyond the large estates driven by public bodies such as the Obra Sindical del Hogar or the Municipal Housing Trust, there are only four large private development estates, such as Bellvitge, Ciutat Meridiana, the Ciutat Cooperativa of Sant Boi, and the Santa Elvira neighborhood in Montcada, which have serious deficiencies in services and facilities. In the sixties and seventies, growth was poorly managed, without thought. Where there were garden cities, suburban areas were allowed to grow, as in the case of Calafell, Platja d’Aro, Roses, and Maresme. On the coast, genuine atrocities were permitted due to tourist pressure, such as in Lloret and Riells. And on old rows of houses, blocks were allowed to grow without any integration into the environment. The public sector forgot the constitutional mandate to redistribute part of the increase in value generated by urban transformation so that it would benefit the community, and often promoters were allowed to cede margins or edges of the land as impossible green areas, while the obligation to urbanize streets was ignored.

The growth of the Catalan and Spanish economy is undeniable. And future estimates, despite a slowdown, confirm that we will continue to be the champions of GDP growth. The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, did not fail to mention this during his speech at the annual meeting of the Cercle d'Economia in Barcelona, where he surprised the audience by announcing the steps to present the State budgets for 2027, which sound more like an electoral program than a real possibility.

The eviction of a family with four minors in the Cerdanyola neighborhood of Mataró has ended with three teenagers arrested and several charges by the Mossos d'Esquadra to execute the judicial eviction. The events took place early this morning on Gatassa avenue, where, according to the Mossos, about fifty people gathered to prevent police action and threw objects at the police line. The Mossos report throwing cobblestones and stones, for which five officers were slightly injured.

It is undeniable that the Catalan and Spanish economies are growing. On a macroeconomic level, the trend in gross domestic product (GDP) is positive, especially when compared to neighboring eurozone countries. Not even the war in Iran, which has had less impact than expected, has pushed these economies down from their leading positions in terms of growth.

Bad times are coming for holders of variable-rate mortgages. The daily 12-month Euribor, the main reference for this type of loan for home purchases, has closed the month with an average above 2.8% (2.804%) and is heading towards 3%, according to analysts. Thus, the monthly payment for an average mortgage of 174,132 euros with Euribor plus one point, which was 833.11 euros, will rise to 900.39 euros, an increase of 67.28 euros more or 807.36 euros more per year.

The Government will extend the age of access to emancipation loans to 40 years from Monday. It is an "instrument to facilitate the payment of the down payment for a home for young people so that they can subsequently apply for a mortgage: "They encounter a barrier, a wall, which is the down payment," explained the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, at an event at the Institut Català de Finances (ICF) this Friday.

Mayor Jaume Collboni (Barcelona, 1969) receives ARA when there is just one year left until the municipal elections. We talk about housing –the main problem for Barcelonians–, tourism, security, and also about the situation of the PSOE amidst the Zapatero storm.

Financial or property donations signed before a notary have grown by 20% to "all-time highs," and the Notarial College of Catalonia links this to the housing crisis and the need for assistance to buy a home. "They respond greatly to the desire to help a son or family member who wants to acquire a home, and donations can be the solution: either money to buy one or property if parents are fortunate enough to have more than one," explained the vice-dean of the College, Raquel Iglesias, at the presentation of the data from the V Notarial Observatory of Catalonia. "Donations out of pure generosity, without need, do exist, but we don't see them as much," she clarified.

The Barcelona Chamber of Commerce presented its plan this Wednesday to combat the housing crisis. The business entity announced a set of 20 "structural" measures to face the challenge that it represents for the country. According to the Chamber, the objectives of the initiative are to "sustainably increase the housing supply, reinforce legal certainty, and guarantee access to decent housing for all citizens". Estimates collected by the entity indicate that in the next five years, more than 180,000 new housing needs will have to be met.

After more than a decade of research between Harvard University and MIT, Ramon Gras (Barcelona, 1984) co-founded Aretian in 2018. Through digital twins, this start-up analyzes how a city's morphology influences its economy and innovation. In recent years, it has developed the one for the metropolitan region first and then for all of Catalonia. A project that has the support of the Torres Foundation and Barcelona Global, which is already available to administrations and will soon also be open to the private sector.

Searching on any of the major real estate portals for lofts or studios on the ground floor in Barcelona generates a results page full of listings for properties without a certificate of habitability available for purchase –mostly– or for rent, some of which at prices far above the market average and that can reach 760,000 euros. Despite being a legally required document to live in a dwelling, when asked by ARA, Catalan administrations –such as the Generalitat or the Barcelona City Council– do not currently provide data on inspections and sanctions for this matter.

The Barcelona Metropolitan Housing Observatory calculates the real impact of the rent cap. Prices in the Catalan capital would have risen by between 160 and 270 euros more per month if this measure had not been implemented, according to a report prepared by this entity. Without regulation, the document states, rents would have continued to rise to 1,318.6 euros per month, following the trend of the last decade, or could even have risen further, to 1,492.2 euros, if the accelerated growth rate of the market in recent years had been maintained.

The Spanish economy is holding its ground despite the impact of the war in the Middle East, but it is not without risks. This is one of the main conclusions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) economists in their annual report on the Spanish economy, the so-called Article IV, in which they launch a series of recommendations to the Spanish government, starting with the need to carry out fiscal consolidation to help strengthen public finances.

The Spanish government announced this Thursday a new sanctioning procedure against a "large real estate company" – the executive refuses, for the moment, to make its name public – for allegedly violating consumer rights in housing matters. It is the fourth procedure on this issue opened during the legislature, which began three years ago, according to sources from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs confirmed to the newspaper ARA.

Ivan Giesen is 68 years old and has been living for 27 years in an apartment at number 153 of Ramon Turró street, in Poblenou. In 1999 he moved there after living for a few years in the Gothic Quarter, at a time when the rent price in this more central area began to double. "I was looking for a place and I found this apartment in Poblenou, which, moreover, suited me very well because at that time I was running a language academy in the neighborhood," recounts the resident. In 2019, however, the company Maramca SL – owner of the building since 2012 – began renovation works in the building and notified that it would stop renewing the contract with the residents, including Giesen.