Barcelona
- City: Barcelona
- Country: Spain
- Population:
- Location: 41.390205|2.154007
On 19 January 2019, Barcelona became the seventh city to sign a pledge to the EU Pillar of Social Rights. Deputy Mayor for Social Rights, Laia Ortiz, signed pledges to principle 14 on minimum income and principle 19 on housing and assistance for the homeless.
On housing, Barcelona is committed to:
Improve affordable housing by investing €182.5 million each year in:
- Enlarging the stock of affordable housing with additional 5,337 housing units (3,720 by direct promotion; 867 in delegated promotion and 750 direct purchase from the private market).
- Shifting the model from property to rental by using 80% of affordable housing for rental and 20% for property ownership.
- Direct support for rental to 9,000 beneficiaries in 2019.
- Support for renovations to over 10,000 beneficiaries in 2019.
Combat homelessness by investing €35 million in 2016-2019 in:
- A new shelter for young people aged 18-23.
- A new shelter for homeless people with mental illness.
- Expanding the Housing First programme with additional 50 flats in 2019.
- Labour inclusion programmes to create specific pathways for the integration into the labour market of irregular migrants and reducing their risk of homelessness.
- Creating additional 47 temporary individual housing units in 2019.
- Renovating shelters to improve the living conditions in shelters.
- Increase of 158% the budget for outreach teams to provide social support to homeless people.
On minimum income, Barcelona is committed to:
- Invest €17 million (co-funded with €5 million from the EU programme of Urban Innovative Actions) to pilot a minimum income scheme in one of its most deprived areas (Eix Besos) combined with active labour market policies to help 1,000 households get out of poverty by the end of 2019.
- Invest €150 million from the municipal budget to implement the Barcelona Neighbourhoods Plan in 2016-2019 by combining urban regeneration with social programmes in 16 most deprived neighbourhoods.
- Invest €15 million (co-funded from ERDF programme) in a Sustainable and Integrated Urban Development Strategy for the Eix Besos area in 2016-2019 to reduce socio-economic inequalities.
- Leading the URBInclusion network with a partnership of 9 European cities to co-create social policies fighting poverty and reinforcing social cohesion in deprived urban areas.
Deputy Mayor Laia Ortiz stated: ‘‘A stronger social Europe is only possible if all people are guaranteed the right to adequate housing and a life in dignity with adequate minimum income. We need to find solutions to guarantee affordable housing from the local, regional, national and EU level”.