This Friday, the Catalan government announced the first municipalities to benefit from one of Salvador Illa's flagship initiatives: the 2025-2029 Neighborhood Plan. Around twenty towns, including the four Catalan provincial capitals, will be able to implement projects with a total budget of €412 million, of which €232.71 million will be provided by the Catalan government—a higher figure than initially projected. The projects that will benefit most from this plan are located in Olot, Amposta, Vic, Tortosa, Figueres, and Santa Coloma de Gramenet. The list is completed by Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, Seu d'Urgell, Mataró, Sant Joan Despí, Calafell, Reus, Manresa, Solsona, La Pobla de Segur, and Torrelameu. The second call for proposals under the Neighborhood Plan will be published in the first half of 2026.

A total investment of over sixty million euros and a hundred projects spread over the next seven years in the historic center of Lleida. This is the main headline that Mayor Fèlix Larrosa (PSC) announced on October 13th during the presentation of the new comprehensive plan for the neighborhood"The transformation of the historic center will be the largest undertaken by the city in the democratic era," declared Larrosa, citing "the restoration of livability, the increase in green spaces, the enhancement of public spaces and heritage, and the economic and social revitalization of the neighborhood" as the central pillars of this initiative, which aims to incorporate the Generalitat's Pla de Bar (Bar Plan). Despite the announcement, both some neighborhood leaders in the historic center and the main opposition political groups in the Lleida City Council have expressed skepticism. On paper, the new comprehensive plan, to be implemented between now and 2032, appears appealing. With projects to restore facilities such as the former Santa Teresa convent, the Mercat del Pla market, the Roman baths of Cardenal Remolins, and the Cervantes school, the Paeria (Lleida City Council) also plans the construction of 387 homes and up to 400 renovations, in addition to an urban forest of approximately 2,000 square meters. "We want to replace the current stock of aging and uninhabitable housing with new or renovated buildings that are accessible, efficient, and attract new residents, especially young people and families who want to live in a vibrant neighborhood," explains the mayor.

There are many Catalonias, some more visible than others. The metropolitan Catalonia, the Catalonia of coastal tourist centers, the empty Catalonia of inland micro-towns, the Catalonia of medium-sized cities, the Catalonia of dispersed housing developments... The urban and social problems are diverse and real. One of the achievements of tripartite governments, often recognized more after the fact than at the time, was the Pla de Barris (Barriers' Plan), conceived and directed by geographer Oriol Nel lo: it aimed to target particularly run-down neighborhoods with specific improvement actions in different areas. The idea was later adopted by the Colau government in the city of Barcelona, ​​​​where, despite the criticism it received, it has been continued by Mayor Collboni. Now the Catalan government, led by fellow Socialist Salvador Illa, has adopted this planning and action model with a new Neighborhood Plan open to all the country's municipalities for the period 2025-2029, with a planned investment of 200 million euros per year—to which should be added municipal contributions totaling 6 million euros in housing and public spaces, building adaptation to climate change, and social action over the five-year period.

Barcelona takes a new step to combat inequalities and strengthen social cohesion with the launch of the Pla de Barris 2025-2028. This initiative, consolidated as a structural public policy for the city, will invest up to €300 million in projects that will improve the quality of life of 438,000 people—26% of Barcelona's population—in 27 neighborhoods across Barcelona's seven districts. The objective of this new edition of the Pla de Barris is to reduce social and territorial inequalities through in-depth intervention, innovating in public policies, working with residents, and committing to the future through transformative projects. It focuses on priority profiles: adolescents, with programs to strengthen ties and address mental illness; women, through socialization and support spaces; the elderly, with support networks to combat loneliness and improvements in accessibility; and migrants, with support networks and inclusion strategies. The project focuses on education and culture, public space and accessibility, and housing and rehabilitation—three strategic areas for a more inclusive and accessible neighborhood.

The Catalonia of vulnerable neighbourhoods is an often invisible reality. Many prefer not to see it. Many have never set foot in an uncomfortable reality. This weekend ARA is portraying it: we have gone there, we have talked to the neighbours, we have asked the experts... The portrait that emerges is that of areas that feel forgotten and stigmatised, trapped in a vicious circle of lack of opportunities and urban degradation that does nothing but rot and prolong the problems eternally. Attempts to reverse the situation, which there have been, have in most cases never succeeded due to lack of continuity and resources. The two crises of this 21st century have been lethal for some neighbourhoods that are now living immersed in the drama of the pandemic. With the housing problem as a decisive factor, unemployment, educational and health deficits, the weakness of associations and commerce, and petty crime often associated with drugs are other factors that are repeated in many of these neighbourhoods, both in the metropolitan area of Barcelona (especially along the Besòs river) and other urban environments in the districts of Girona, Lleida and Tarragona. Among these neighbourhoods there are some very well known and marked, while others, which also suffer degraded situations, are directly ignored by a large majority of Catalans. As if they did not exist.