At the doors of the general strike for housing and wages, and a few days before Congress votes on the Spanish government's housing decrees, four of the country's most prestigious universities have wanted to have their say and try to clarify the debate. The University of Barcelona (UB), the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) have railed against the “low-quality overregulation” in housing matters, in the words of Juli Ponce Solé, a doctor of law at the UB.

This episode of the podcast Tocar sostre addresses the relationship between digitalization, coexistence, and housing, and how digital transformation influences our way of living and relating to each other. Participating in this episode are lawyer and university professor Eugènia Revilla, archaeologist and expert in culture and digital transformation Genís Roca, and architect and co-founder of 300,000 km/s Mar Santamaria. The discussion is moderated by journalist Gerard Pruna, head of the Barcelona area for the newspaper ARA.

With two weeks to go until the strike for housing access, the homeowners' union Som Habitatge has presented fifteen proposals to resolve the serious crisis the country is experiencing. Among others, the association, which defines itself as "the voice of the small owner", has demanded that one must own at least 100 properties to be considered a large holder.

The situation is contradictory in capital letters: while developers warn that the lack of land is one of the main impediments to the creation of new housing, the data show that there is an "overabundance" of vacant and stagnant land, which is not entering the market. Only in the municipalities declared a tense residential market zone (ZMRT) –that is, where policies such as caps are needed to facilitate access to housing in a context of high demand–, there is land to build 423,600 apartments on plots that are not yet part of the urban fabric, but are at its gates. Beforehand they must be urbanized or require changes of use, but the town councils, in their urban plans, already foresaw that housing would be built there.

The third episode of the podcast Tocar sostre addresses the difficulties of access to housing and the challenges they pose for emancipation. Participants include Pol Casellas, architect and digital communicator; Jose Téllez, representative of Sostre Cívic; and Anna Puigdevall, general director of Som Habitatge. Moderated by Laura Casserres, ARA journalist specializing in housing.

The second episode of the podcast Tocar sostre revolves around how we should understand housing: is it a basic necessity, an investment asset, or a social right? Participants include urban anthropologist Manuel Delgado, economist Josep Oliver, and economist and president of the Hàbitat3 Foundation, Carme Trilla. Moderated by journalist Carla Turró.

Room rentals are one of the loopholes that landlords in Catalonia have found to bypass rent caps. Consequently, in December, Parliament approved a law to regulate seasonal and room rentals, a pioneering initiative in Spain.

The rent cap has taken up almost all the media attention, but the declaration of a stressed residential market area (ZMRT) provides for other instruments to facilitate access to housing. This Wednesday, the Spanish government announced direct subsidies to these territories, as established by the state housing law: it intends to distribute 90 million euros among the five autonomous communities that have applied the measure. Of this figure, Catalonia will receive 60 million, as it concentrates 75% of the population living in an area where the housing market is stressed, and 85.5% of the municipalities.

New data on the impact of rent caps. The average price of new rental contracts has fallen by 1.28% in municipalities declared as rent-controlled areas —where the administration can apply rent containment— compared to when the measure began to be applied in March 2024, while in the rest of Catalonia prices have risen by 9.53%. This is data published by the Generalitat this Monday based on the deposits of new rental contracts made to Incasòl during the first quarter of 2026.

Renting an apartment is still hell (as is buying it, no doubt). Everyone knows it, and it's a prophecy, as the poet would say. Attempts to rein in prices are starting to work, but only halfway. And with dysfunctions. It's more than likely that without price caps and tense zones, things would be worse. But the improvement is slight and presents contradictions. Today we're explaining one that has gone unnoticed until now, because it's not obvious, and that shows the complexity of the situation when it comes to prices actually falling, or at least not rising.

On Tuesday the Spanish government approved a new series of housing measures. The star project, the state housing law, was put on hold after the judiciary did not approve the first report on the law; however, the executive has approved two other measures to facilitate access to housing, especially for young people: the young tenant grant and the state plan for access to housing 2022-2025, endowed with €1.7bn.