Almost 49,000 Barcelonians are registered on the fictitious register

BarcelonaRoom for 350 euros plus 300 euros for registration. The formula is repeated on advertising websites and exemplifies how complicated it is to register without a rental contract. Ángela (she doesn't want to give her surname) spent two years trying to get the owner who rented her a shared room in an apartment in Barcelona's Horta neighborhood to register her and, desperate due to the refusals, she went on Facebook and immediately a range of possibilities opened up for her to register in another dwelling without living there. She says she paid 300 euros, and two years later she had the "surprise" that they were asking for 150 more for the renewal. "Desperation makes you end up paying what they ask for," states this Colombian woman with a stable job and no record with social services.

Ángela did not report the abuse, nor did she go to the Barcelona City Council to ask to be registered "without a fixed address," a modality that the law of the bases of the local regime provides for people who either survive on the street or live in an apartment (or a room) whose owner denies them registration. "I'm looking for urgent registration in Barcelona," announces a man on social media, and among the replies, some "me too" are interspersed.

In May, Barcelona's registry had 48,832 people registered without a fixed address, also known as fictitious or social registration, because in reality they are registered at an address that does not correspond to their real one but rather to a municipal department. The number of registered people with this modality has been on the rise and, in fact, they are a reflection of the enormous housing crisis that is hitting the Western world. In a decade, this record has multiplied by 12, in the city: in 2016, there were just over 4,000 registered. Not all city councils assume this obligation, nor do they agree to accept registrations outside the ordinary circuit, and Barcelona has historically attracted population that has encountered refusals from metropolitan municipalities to register them. Even its social services have encouraged them to try in the Catalan capital.

Controversial change

Two years ago, the City Council alarmed social entities when it began to tidy up the registry to ensure that registered residents "truly" lived in the city. Thus, it was put an end to the authorization to register people in the premises of health and social entities if they did not offer a bed; a solution that benefited 1,700 people. The manager of the social services area, Marta Clari, justifies the elimination of this category because, at present, it no longer has the original purpose of protecting people with infectious diseases — the majority — since the Department of Health already guarantees them the health card linked to the registry.

Furthermore, changes were introduced in the social registry and more inspections were carried out to verify in situ the residence of these people, whether in the room where they are not allowed to be registered or in the street corner where they say a homeless person sleeps. Therefore, it has gone from carrying out "random checks where demand was growing to periodic checks" to remove false registrations, points out the municipal official.

Social educators go to the indicated place up to three times; if they are not found, they are called by phone to arrange a new appointment. In case there is no response, after a "guaranteed period of seven or eight months," they are deregistered because it is considered that they do not have residency. According to the data provided by Clari, the requests for registration in the social registry have gone "from 75% to 55-60%," which, in her opinion, confirms that the idea that it is not worth trying to register if you do not really live in Barcelona has taken hold.

Social follow-up

However, the data indicates that registrations without a fixed address have increased, in the same way that ordinary register registrations have increased. In May 2024, when the orders to restrict social registration became known, there were 45,000 people registered, 3,800 fewer than the latest official data. Of the registrations without a fixed address, the vast majority—41,313—correspond to residents who, like Á ngela from the beginning of the text, have no link with social services, either because they work and are self-employed or because they avoid interacting with them. In contrast, the remaining 7,500 do have an open file and are monitored.

For Arrels Fundació, a benchmark in supporting people living on the street, the change in the register "has made an indispensable procedure more cumbersome" for those who already have enough problems to survive, and, on top of that, suffer from physical or mental illnesses that make their lives even more difficult. Robert Walker, head of the entity's street team, regrets that despite "the good coordination" with municipal social educators, the act of introducing checks causes "stress and anxiety" among homeless people for fear of not being found. In fact, he criticizes that the high vulnerability of this group, which constantly moves around the city, and who may lose or have their mobile phone stolen, has not been taken into account. "The service must adapt to people's needs, not the other way around," he retorts, assuring that the majority of those attended have no reference in basic social services.