Two residents of Sabadell have filed a lawsuit against Sareb —the so-called bad bank— after the entity is demanding more than three million euros from them for a mortgage they never took out, neither directly nor voluntarily. According to the lawsuit, which has already been accepted for processing, the affected parties—now deceased—never received the money they are now being asked to return. In fact, as the lawsuit explains, the loan was granted to a third party: the real estate developer Wilder Bay SL, which subsequently went into administration. From then on, the mortgage debt was subject to several financial transfers until it reached Sareb, which is now demanding repayment from the daughters of the deceased neighbors, aged 79 and 74.

The landlords' association Som Habitatge, which was created less than a year ago to counterbalance the Sindicat de Llogateres (Tenants' Union), has questioned the constitutionality of the Catalan law that regulates seasonal and room rentals. approved last December by the ParliamentThis legislation, a first in Spain, would be unconstitutional for a number of reasons that the organization outlined this Wednesday at a press conference, based on a report prepared by three professors of civil law. The initiative was approved thanks to votes in favor from the PSC, ERC, Comuns, and CUP parties to prevent the fraudulent use of these temporary rental arrangements to circumvent the rent cap, in effect throughout Spain since March 2024. The legal mechanism for achieving this means that all tenants are subject to the housing law, regardless of the contract's duration (therefore, this also applies to students or workers relocating for work). Furthermore, the total price paid by all tenants in an apartment rented by the room cannot exceed the cap that would apply if the entire apartment were rented. Thus, for the past three months, only vacation or recreational rentals have been exempt, and documentation is required for all such arrangements.

The Catalan housing market is losing properties to companies. Legal entities sold 12,010 more homes last year than they bought, a difference that confirms a trend of disinvestment and, according to the Notarial Association of Catalonia, points to "a progressive transfer of housing to private buyers." This phenomenon is also occurring across Spain, where legal entities sold 45,108 more homes than they acquired, and in the city of Barcelona, ​​where 1,705 more were sold than purchased, according to the report's data. Snapshot of the housing market in Catalonia 2007-2025 Data from the Notary Association was presented this Friday at the College of Economists of Catalonia. Last year, legal entities accounted for 10.7% of home purchases in Spain, a percentage that rises to 12.3% in Catalonia and 13.8% in Barcelona. "We have established an indicator that allows us to observe more precisely how, apart from the homes sold by companies, some are also purchased by private individuals," explained Alberto Martínez Lacambra, director of the Notary Association's Technological Center. This data provides context to the debate on the structure of property ownership—that is, whether the properties belong to small, large, or mega-owners—which currently influences some public policies aimed at improving access to housing. At the end of January, the Chamber of Urban Property and the Barcelona Metropolitan Housing Observatory (O-HB) presented two reports on this topic. Amid all this, the Catalan government plans to prohibit speculative housing purchases, as agreed with the Comuns party in mid-February.

The Catalan government will buy half of the Bank of Spain building in Plaça Catalunya in Barcelona. The transaction will cost the Catalan government €58.4 million, plus an additional €36.9 million for renovations before it can move in, as announced this Friday. The VanguardThe acquisition of part of the building would allow the Catalan government to save approximately 4.5 million euros annually. The Governor of the Bank of Spain, José Luis Escrivá, had publicly admitted in the past that the bank's branch in the center of Barcelona was underutilized and had opened the door to its sale to the Generalitat (Catalan government), which is itself trying to increase its portfolio of owned offices.

2025 was on track to become a landmark year for home sales in Catalonia. And it was. While the number of transactions was exceptionally high every month of the year, the cumulative sales figures for 2007 were never surpassed. However, December was a particularly strong month, with 8,181 sales, 9.9% more than the previous December, bringing the annual total to 112,000. Exactly 1,100 more than in 2007.

The most important urban planning tool for the Barcelona metropolitan area, designed to improve the territorial conditions of its 36 constituent municipalities, received renewed approval on Tuesday. This new framework will initiate the renewal of the Metropolitan General Plan, in effect since 1976 and based on an outdated model of growth through territorial expansion and occupation. Its objective is to address current challenges, particularly regarding housing, but also to balance the entire metropolis in terms of activity, mobility, land use, and development. This tool, the Metropolitan Urban Master Plan (PDUM), was approved by the Metropolitan Council, the highest governing body of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB). The process began in 2015 with the initial drafting; the first version was presented in 2019, and it received initial approval in 2023. In recent years, the plan has received more than 5,180 objections and reports from administrations and entities, such as the Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Barcelona (FAVB), which has required a second initial approval almost three years later. Provisional approval is expected before the next municipal elections, and final approval by 2028. "Now we have to see what changes have been made compared to the previous version. Of course, housing is an important issue, but it will have to be put into practice. They need to explain the contents very well," explains Jordi Giró, president of Confavc, in ARA. The approved text has not yet been made public. The guidelines now incorporated into the text, which will affect the 36 municipalities and 3.38 million inhabitants of the AMB (Barcelona Metropolitan Area), will create a unified urban planning framework of possibilities for the next 25 years. The PSC, ERC, Junts per Catalunya, En Comú Podem, Vivim Montcada i Reixac, Compromís, Acord per Torrelles, and Junts per Tiana voted in favor, while Vox voted against. The PP and the councilors from Hospitalet de Llobregat, David Quirós (PSC) and Jesús Husillos (PSC), abstained. The needs that the PDUM seeks to address—such as access to housing and integrated mobility—also exist in the municipalities just outside the AMB, such as Maresme, Vallès, Vallès, and Garraf. However, these municipalities are not part of the metropolitan institutional structure and, therefore, lack planning instruments. This absence is a long-standing demand in the debate on the metropolitan region. What does the new plan consist of?

This is a strategic urban development master plan, meaning it focuses more on the how and the processes, rather than on closed and defined proposals. It doesn't guarantee specific measures, but rather authorizes what can and cannot be done. "It's not a catalog of projects, but a document that provides guidance for ensuring that growth is carried out properly," explained Damià Calvet, Vice President of the Urban Planning and Natural Spaces Department, at a press conference on Tuesday. Thus, the plan defines objectives and also the processes for achieving them, which "doesn't mean it's less executive, but rather more operational," added Xavier Mariño, Director of the Urban Planning and Natural Spaces Department at the AMB (Barcelona Metropolitan Area). The text incorporates proposals and also the way to develop them with a set of "rules of the game" between the final phase of the PDUM – which will arrive from 2028 onwards – and the Metropolitan Urban Development Plan (POUMet), which is the metropolitan plan that will be activated to specify how the PDUM is applied in each area. In short, the approved master plan establishes a general framework, and the POUMet develops it with the detail corresponding to a municipal urban development plan (POUM). Precisely for all these reasons, Mariño also highlighted legal certainty as a final guiding principle, since the PDUM must comply with the hierarchy and respect the still-valid metropolitan general plan and the Barcelona Metropolitan Territorial Plan (PTMB) of the Generalitat, as well as fit within the legislative and urban planning framework.

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The structure of residential ownership – that is, whether the apartments belong to small, large, or megaforksAnd its impact on housing prices and access, especially for rent, is one of the most polarized topics of debate in the housing crisis, particularly in cities like Barcelona. Recently, this public debate has incorporated a new concept, until recently discussed only by unions, activists, and opposition parties, and which is now in the crosshairs of both the Catalan government and the Spanish government: speculation. To discuss speculation—understood as the use of housing solely as a financial asset—data on the ownership structure has typically been used, assuming that this practice is concentrated primarily in the hands of investment funds, REITs, or asset management companies. But this week, two studies examining the same phenomenon from different perspectives have been published, arriving at seemingly divergent conclusions.

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The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs, and Agenda 2030 has launched an investigation to remove rental listings in designated high-demand areas that violate current consumer protection regulations, the ministry announced in a statement on Friday. "If we can prove the existence of deceptive or unfair practices, the ministry will act decisively," warned Social Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy (Sumar) at a press conference. Bustinduy declined to name the real estate portals under investigation but indicated they are "the largest." The targeted listings on major real estate portals will be those offering rental apartments at prices higher than those set by law for large landlords, or those that fail to include the price of the last lease agreement offered for the property, if the owners are private individuals, as required by law. In this regard, Bustinduy has once again demanded that the PP apply state regulations to the regions and cities it governs, which would entail the delimitation of high-demand areas. These advertisements, according to the ministry, could be considered violations of consumer regulations as "unfair and misleading practices" and, therefore, carry penalties. The Customer Service Law, which came into effect on December 27, requires real estate portals to publish information in online advertisements for properties located in high-demand areas that allows consumers to understand the parameters used to justify the asking price in accordance with these regulations. These parameters include the price of the last rental agreement under which the property was offered and the applicable rent index for large landlords. The Secretary General for Consumer Affairs and Gambling, Andrés Barragán, recently informed various real estate portals and associations by letter of the legislative changes approved in this law and their responsibilities as intermediaries between landlords and tenants.

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Around twenty residents gathered this morning in front of number 24 Tigre Street, in Barcelona's Raval neighborhood, to protest the second eviction attempt against seven families from the building. This time, however, the neighbors' solidarity wasn't enough, and the court officials and the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) carried out the court order and evicted the affected residents, including several teenagers and a 90-year-old woman, according to the Ciutat Vella Housing Union. Municipal sources clarified that the 90-year-old woman was not evicted, although she is among those affected. The union maintains that the seven affected families had valid rental contracts and were up-to-date on their payments. In fact, the same sources added that "officially," it was a "precautionary eviction following a ruling that considers the building to be at risk of collapse." However, the union maintains that there are "two reports prepared by the fire department" that contradict the ruling and certify that the building is sufficiently stable and "there is no risk of collapse." In fact, according to the union, one of the biggest "contradictions" in this case is that the eviction is due to an "alleged risk" to the families, but, on the other hand, three other families (four, according to the City Council) still live in the building and will not be evicted because "they have previously been involved in legal proceedings."

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A few days ago, the European Commission presented its first-ever housing plan. One of its demands is to increase the stock of social and affordable housing, which has traditionally been associated with public housing. However, there are currently 25 million social and affordable rental apartments in Europe, equivalent to almost the entire state housing stock of 26 million. But these homes, spread across the continent, are not necessarily all public. If there is no administration behind them, who manages them?

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"Every stone makes a wall." This proverb, which has become a motto in President Salvador Illa's office, fits both literally and figuratively with the Catalan government's strategy to resolve the housing crisis. Beyond regulating the existing market, with measures such as limiting seasonal and room rentals—which Parliament... has approved this week—or curbing speculation—the legislature is geared towards the mass construction of housing, especially public housing. This commitment has been expressed with two grandiose figures, which the president himself announced in the Catalan Parliament a year apart: the 50,000 plan and the 214,000 plan.

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The Catalan housing market is experiencing its best year since 2007, and this October it took another step forward: surpassing 11,000 transactions, a figure not seen for 18 years. This number, which represents the fourth highest in Catalonia's history, is particularly significant in the Barcelona area, where 7,165 transactions in October make it the first market to exceed the figures from the housing bubble. More homes are now being bought than in 2007.

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The Catalan government has agreed to purchase 1,064 apartments from Inmocaixa, the real estate subsidiary of CriteriaCaixa (the investment holding company of La Caixa), for €87.2 million. These homes will now be public and offered for affordable rent, as announced this Wednesday by the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, at a conference at Fira Sabadell. This means the government will pay, on average, around €82,900 per apartment. The thousand apartments that the Generalitat has now added to its public housing stock are located in Barcelona, ​​Cornellà de Llobregat, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Mataró, Montornés del Vallés, Sant Just Desvern, Sentmenat, Sitges, Terrassa, Tordera, Olot, Lleida, Tarragona, and Sabadell. The transaction will be carried out through the Catalan Land Institute (Incasòl).

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An opaque, metallic gray fence stretches for about 50 meters along the sidewalk in the middle of Sant Andreu del Palomar. On a sunny weekday morning, someone might approach and hear construction work in its foundation phase. But soon, attention shifts from hearing to sight, and the clatter of machinery is drowned out by a monstrous crane, seemingly rising from nowhere. To follow the crane's arm with your eyes, you need to shield them from the glare, but you don't have to look too far to realize this is no ordinary construction project. "This project isn't a business, because housing is a right," reads a sign, also gray, atop the fence.

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The new phase of the Association of Real Estate Agents of Catalonia (AIC) and the Official College of Real Estate Agents (COAPI), with the recent election of the jurist Montserrat Junyent As president, she has started with a major objective: to build a "common, stable, and realistic" strategy to address the housing crisis. "We are asking for a long-term vision," said Junyent—the first woman to lead the institution in its more than 75-year history—adding that they present themselves as "effective collaborators" and will strive to "convey data" in the debate. She outlined this on Thursday, accompanied by some members of her board, at a press conference, during which she also lamented the sector's current reputation: "The image being conveyed of the group is not the real one."

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The President of the Generalitat (Catalan Government), Salvador Illa, announced this Monday that on November 13, the Government will formalize the purchase of 170 social housing units owned by InmoCaixa, the real estate subsidiary of CriteriaCaixa, for approximately €15 million.

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Jorge Galindo (Valencia, 1985) is deputy director of EsadeEcPol and holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Geneva. He has published Three million homes (Debate), a book with a clear thesis: we need to build a lot more housing.

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Felipe, who lives in a block on Barcelona's Gran Vía Carlos III, was unable to hang the flag in his window for the Diada. His neighborhood association forbids it. "They say it makes it ugly to have flags hanging," he laments. His case is not unique: according to industry sources consulted by ARA, it is common for homeowners' associations to approve regulations on what can and cannot be hung on windows and balconies. It was much more common during the Process, but the debate resurfaces frequently on special days, such as the Diada or Hispanidad, and for demands like LGBTI Pride. It also occurs in times of political and social turmoil, such as protests for Palestine or housing. Now, is it possible for a community to veto a neighbor from hanging a political symbol on their balcony?

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The over-income rate among rented households in Catalonia is one of the main problems facing the housing market: despite having a fixed income and sharing housing expenses with their partner, one in four Catalan households suffer from over-income, meaning they must spend more than 40% of their income on housing.

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The surge in the home sales market in Catalonia has encountered the usual slowdown in activity in August, which this year has broken a 14-month upward trend. However, the same has not been true for mortgage signings, which not only have seen a 15-month rise in growth but have also recorded their best growth in a single August since 2010.

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