Saying a simple "Hello" or "Goodbye" when you meet one of your neighbors in the stairwell or share an elevator. It may seem like a widespread custom, a majority gesture of cordiality, but now there is data to quantify it: in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, 63.8% of people greet each other frequently. Those who cross the greeting border and have a brief conversation frequently – at least ask "How are you?" – are 42.6% of neighbors. Lending oil, salt, and any other kind of favor is only done regularly by 16.1% of neighbors. And when we raise the level of trust, the number of neighbors who share personal problems (8.4%) or who visit each other (only 4.3%) decreases.

It's Thursday morning. The Barceloneta neighborhood is slowly waking up as shutters are raised, uniformed dockworkers make coffee in a bar, the market is already open, and crates of fish are piled high in the stalls. The butane delivery man, who has parked at the entrance to Pescadors Street, acts as an alarm clock by banging the gas cylinders with a hammer, in case someone needs to refill them. This week, these streets have been in the headlines of all the media outlets so that Barceloneta is already the most gentrified neighborhood in the entire country. According to the latest study by the Center for Demographic Studies at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). When asked about this issue, most residents don't react with surprise: "Gentrification has been out of control here for a long time," they agree resignedly. ARA visited the neighborhood to talk to residents—both newcomers and long-timers—and see firsthand what it's like to continue living in a neighborhood where the machinery of the system tends to push you out.

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?

Illegal street vending, drugs on public streets, and skyrocketing filth. This is what many residents and shopkeepers in Barcelona's Sant Antoni neighborhood have been experiencing for months. "We've reached the limit: either we report it now or it will get worse. We want a political reaction," say Sant Antoni Encants, one of the neighborhood associations that issued a letter on Monday to the Eixample and Ciutat Vella city councils to express their discontent over the "deterioration it is suffering." In it, they detail that the increase in uncivil behavior affects neighborhood coexistence and, in turn, has a direct impact on local businesses.

The reinforcement of the bus service, a greater presence of the City Police and Mobility Agents, as well as the possibility of accessing the park by bicycle during school hours, are the main measures that Barcelona City Council has presented to improve the quality of life of the residents around Park Güell. The First Deputy Mayor of Barcelona, Laia Bonet, explained that these actions respond to the "neighborhood proposals and demandsin view of the critical situation that the community is reporting due to the overcrowding in their neighborhood.

Barcelona City Council wants to reduce events and concerts in the Ciutat Vella district. During 2024, 1,994 events and 429 demonstrations were managed, which represents an average of more than six activities per day. The aim is to foster neighborhood participation and "achieve a balance" in an "area of great tourist tension."

The City Council of Santa Cristina de Aro, In Baix Empordà, it has said enough. It no longer wants to endure the presence of cars diverting from the C-31 on their way from the Costa Brava to Barcelona, clogging up the town for hours. This Sunday, the council deployed a special police operation for the return trip from the May 1st long weekend to prevent a repeat of this situation, which they frequently encounter on weekends. Thus, throughout the day today, local police prevented cars not belonging to residents from accessing the town center.

Staying at home due to the COVID pandemic often meant discovering the neighbors. In 2020, the Barcelona City Council's Alternative Conflict Management (GAC) service, which is responsible for mediating in these situations, received 2,600% more referrals, mostly of cases that initially came to the Guardia Urbana from 28 to 686. Back to normal, these referrals have been decreasing, but remain at levels much higher than in 2019.

"I have lost everything: I had old photos and mementoes of my parents and family, clothes, two very large aquariums, also a miniature train line I was assembling with 40 engines... My whole life has gone up in flames". This is the hard and overwhelming summary made bu Jordi, a 66-year-old resident of the River Park housing estate in Pont de Vilomara, who only a month ago saw it all disappear due to the Pont de Vilomara fire that burnt down over 1,700 hectares of land and around sixty houses, including his own.

Closed shops in and around Joaquim Costa street in the Raval district of Barcelona are the exception, fewer than one in ten. Most shops are weathering the crisis as best they can, helped by local consumption and by the same network they have created among themselves, despite the fact that the moment is not easy and income has plummeted like everywhere else. The image, however, is far from that offered by some streets of the neighbouring Gothic Quarter, much more doomed to the tourist monoculture and lacking in neighbours, where the pandemic has closed - temporarily or permanently - 30% of businesses, according to data from Barnacentre. The collapse is more intense in very central streets like Ferran Street, and it has called into question the sustainability of the model. The Raval, on the other hand, has plenty of residents, with 42,669 inhabitants per square kilometre - twice as many as the Gothic Quarter - and is one of the most densely populated areas of the city and also one of the most diverse: 60% of its residents were born abroad. And the area of Joaquim Costa is an unusual sight of commercial vitality.