Resource context
Report of the HOUS mission to Barcelona, Spain is a mission report published by the European Parliament and authored by members of the Special Committee on the Housing Crisis in the European Union (HOUS), led by Irene Tinagli, with participating Members including Nikolina Brnjac, Daniel Buda, Yannis Maniatis, Klara Dostalova, Brigitte van den Berg, Borja Giménez Larraz, Alicia Homs Ginel, and others. It documents findings from a three-day delegation visit to Barcelona, Spain, aimed at gathering policy, stakeholder, and research perspectives relevant to Europe’s housing crisis.
Mission scope and objectives
The European Parliament sent a delegation of 12 HOUS Members to Barcelona from 26–28 May 2025. Members were supported by HOUS secretariat staff and group agents, and held institutional meetings, site visits, and expert sessions to examine policy frameworks, stakeholder perspectives (social and economic), innovative solutions, academic findings, and systemic challenges with EU relevance.
National and regional policy framework in Spain and Catalonia
The report describes Spain’s Law 12/2023 as the first nationwide legal framework dedicated specifically to the right to housing, designed to operationalise the constitutional guarantee of decent and adequate housing. Measures cited include rent regulation in “high-pressure” areas, a national rent reference index, tenant-protection and rent-setting changes (including modifications to the 1994 Urban Leases Law), and tax incentives ranging from 50% to 90% to encourage long-term rentals, alongside increased fiscal pressure on unoccupied homes owned by large landlords.
Catalonia and Barcelona: regulatory and strategic planning tools
Catalonia’s approach is presented as combining tenant protection and social housing expansion with measures to curb speculative practices. The report references the October 2024 Sectoral Territorial Housing Plan, as well as multiple Catalan legal instruments: Law 1/2023 addressing evictions related to squatting in vacant homes owned by large holders; Decree Law 3/2023 requiring urban planning licences for tourist rentals with renewable five-year terms; Decree-law 1/2025 on abusive contract clauses; and Decree-law 2/2025 to facilitate public housing construction by reducing administrative burdens, expanding social housing, introducing pre-emptive purchase rights, establishing a registry of large property owners, and creating penalties tied to vacancy declarations.
Municipal initiatives and city-to-city coordination
Barcelona’s City Council strategy is described as centred on the Right to Housing Plan 2016–2025, with aims to expand affordable and social housing, improve quality, and reduce social vulnerability. The report notes work on a new Housing Plan 2026–2033 to respond to market transformations and reinforce housing as a fundamental right, as well as international engagement through the Mayors for Housing alliance to advocate for stronger urban roles in European housing policy.
Civil society and targeted support models
The delegation visited Cáritas Diocesana de Barcelona, which links homelessness prevention and social reintegration to housing solutions including shared flats, single-family units, and reintegration homes. Cáritas called for four actions: emergency social housing, structural housing policy, a commitment to end homelessness (including a proposed parliamentary bill), and stronger efforts to increase affordable rentals. The mission also visited Llar Betània, a project supporting women transitioning from prison with temporary housing and tailored services (vocational training, psychological support, and legal counselling), illustrating a model that combines housing provision with personalised support.
Non-profit supply and affordability metrics: the Hàbitat3 example
Fundació Hàbitat3 (founded in 2014) is presented as a non-profit that acquires, rehabilitates, and manages housing for vulnerable households, pairing below-market rents with socio-educational support. The report states it manages 1,311 homes across 98 municipalities, with additional units in development. It also reports average tenant income of EUR 737 per month and average rent of EUR 178, and describes the “Housing for Social OrganiSations” partnership programme with NGOs as internationally recognised. A related site visit covered Llar Casa Bloc, which converted a historic building into 17 energy-efficient homes for people facing eviction, homelessness, or mental health issues, supported by public and private partners.
Competing diagnoses: rent controls, supply, and short-term rentals
The report records diverging stakeholder assessments. Social organisations and trade unions argued the crisis reflects structural pressures such as speculative investment, mass tourism, short-term rentals, and the role of major investment funds, and advocated measures including price controls, permanent public housing stock, long-term rental contracts, and stronger regulation of short-term rental platforms. They cited a reported reduction in rents in Barcelona of 6.4% and challenged claims that rent control reduced supply, attributing fewer new contracts to changes in minimum lease duration. They also stated illegal occupation is limited (0.057%) and should not be treated as a driver of price increases.
Economic actors and local authorities: investment stability and administrative capacity
Economic actors emphasised a structural imbalance between housing construction and household formation, pointing to limited developable land, high land and construction costs, restrictive regulations, and lingering effects of the 2008 financial crisis through reduced lending. Local officials in Badalona described a housing shortage and rising prices (including references to 8% average increases and 10% for new constructions) and argued legal instability and frequent policy changes discourage investment and maintenance. Across these perspectives, the report highlights recurring themes of public-private cooperation, permit and zoning processes, monitoring of short-term rental platforms, and the design of guarantees and incentives to expand affordable supply.
Research and EU-level considerations
University experts framed housing as a fundamental human right linked to health, equality, and social cohesion, and argued that increased supply alone may not lower prices without stable funding, effective regulation, and incentives. The report references legal tools discussed in the meetings, including rights of first refusal, “expropriation of use,” and “right of surface” mechanisms to expand social housing on public land while retaining ownership, alongside calls for simplified multilevel coordination and data-driven policymaking. Overall, the mission concludes that Europe’s housing crisis requires tailored, evidence-based solutions and better coordination between public and private sectors to support accessibility and affordability across diverse urban contexts.