Pedro Sánchez reaffirms his commitment to social housing during his visit to an affordable rental development in Barcelona

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, reaffirmed his commitment to social housing during his visit in Barcelona to the 'Illa Siberia' affordable social rental housing development in Sant Martí. Located in a former industrial area of the Poblenou neighbourhood, these homes form part of a pioneering model promoted by Barcelona City Council, which awards the development to third parties whilst retaining public ownership of the land, granting a 75-year leasehold; after this period, the homes become part of the municipal public housing stock.

The head of the Executive, accompanied by the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa; the Government's delegate in Catalonia, Carlos Prieto; and the Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, toured the interior of the blocks and visited one of the flats, where he met with the successful applicants.

Sánchez argued that the focus should be on housing accessibility, prioritising residential use over tourist use - one of the measures provided for under the Housing Act - and increasing the supply of affordable housing. In fact, the Housing Act allows regional governments to designate "stressed" housing market areas and curb prices in those locations. Currently, there are 317 such municipalities across five regions, one of which is Barcelona, where new rental prices have fallen by 4.7 per cent since the city was designated a stressed area in 2024.

Furthermore, the Government has allocated €7 billion to the 2026-2030 State Housing Plan, which, for the first time, stipulates that housing financed with state funds may not be reclassified or privatised; and has launched Casa 47, the new State Housing Agency, which will have a budget of €13 billion to help increase the public housing stock to 8 per cent, among other measures.

Non official translation