Around 2,000 people sleep on the streets of Barcelona, 43% more than two years ago.

BarcelonaIn the last two years, the number of people sleeping on the streets of Barcelona has increased. has grown by 43%The 600 volunteers from Arrels Fundació who last week made a The count across the city has tallied 1,982 people who spent the night sleeping rough on cardboard or mattresses in a square, under a doorway, or in a corner of a garden. The figure is "a minimum," admits the organization's director, Bea Fernández, since it doesn't include residents in closed settlements, occupied warehouses, or those staying at the winter shelter, which has 100 beds. In addition, 63 people were located around the terminals at El Prat Airport. "Only the people we saw were included, not those we didn't see," said Fernández, who called for "more coordination" between administrations and departments to provide better assistance. Beyond the data, which reaffirms that homelessness is a growing crisis, Fernández emphasized that only the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi district shows a reduction in the number of homeless people identified. In the other districts, there are considerable increases, such as in Sants-Montjuïc, where 489 people sleep on the streets, 134% more than in the December 2024 count. This district now has the highest number of people experiencing homelessness, followed by Eixample, with 389 people (29% more than two years ago). The new development in the distribution is that Ciutat Vella is no longer the district with the highest concentration of people living on the streets, although it is not immune to the general increase: 372 people now compared to 337 counted two years ago. Sant Martí has also seen a considerable increase of 70%: 335 people are living on the streets. According to Fernández, this new human geography of homelessness "is not accidental," since it is partly explained by the evictions of settlements that have taken place since the summer, forcing those who were living there to move to "less central" areas of the city. Thus, Arrels has found people sleeping in neighborhoods they had never seen before. This relocation is not without its consequences; as the director of Arrels pointed out, it causes "overstress" for those affected, exacerbating physical or psychological illnesses and creating emotional distress associated with the loss of ties to the community, neighbors, and familiar food and resources.

The count also reveals "new dynamics" within homelessness. For example, many more people have been counted who may go about their business during the day, but who, at nightfall, seek a place to gather with others in the same situation to find greater protection and security at bedtime. There has also been an increase in tents. Fernández has warned of the growth of aporophobic rhetoric—rule against the presence of the poor—and indicated that evictions are "motivated, among other things, by complaints or reactions that associate homelessness with health or safety problems and criminalize these groups once again." In this way, she continued, more eviction orders are justified.