What happened
Monday, 28 September 2026
Barcelona
Barcelona housing protest puts pressure on Sánchez and ends with two arrests
Housing rights groups mobilised in Barcelona during Pedro Sánchez’s visit, with morning traffic cuts on Meridiana, Carrer de Sants and Còrsega, followed by a main evening protest that blocked Diagonal. The city police put attendance at 2,000; protesters called for a national decree to halt evictions and freeze rents, also invoking the Maricarmen case. There was tension, barriers were thrown and two people were arrested for public disorder.
Barcelona
Forty-two public or affordable homes linked to Sánchez enter Barcelona’s housing debate
Barcelona’s housing agenda included references to 42 public or affordable homes associated with Pedro Sánchez. The items received do not provide further details.
Barcelona
Analysis sets out ten keys for housing in Barcelona in 2050
A forward-looking piece considered how housing in Barcelona could evolve by 2050. The information received only identifies the general ten-point approach.
Barcelona
Sirera says Barcelona has failed on housing
Daniel Sirera pointed to what he sees as a major failure by Barcelona on housing. In the same remarks, he also warned about Sílvia Orriols.
Catalonia
Council asks for eviction in Cerdanyola de Mataró to be halted
The local council has asked for an eviction scheduled for Tuesday in Cerdanyola, in Mataró, to be stopped. No further details of the case were provided.
Spain
Spanish government negotiates housing decree with rent extensions and a halt to evictions of vulnerable households
The Spanish government was finalising a housing decree for cabinet, with measures under negotiation including rent extensions of up to two years, a 2% cap on updates, suspending evictions of vulnerable households until 2028 and introducing tax breaks or aid for tenants and landlords. The package also includes protecting the public housing stock, blocking speculative purchases by funds and dropping a Land Law reform intended to speed up construction. Junts and ERC voiced reservations, while Junts called for specific measures to stop evictions in homes owned by vulture funds and to protect small landlords.
Spain
Mortgages fall in Spain but rise in Catalonia, with the average rate above 3%
In Spain, the number of home mortgages signed fell by 3.5% in July, although the average loan amount hit a new high above €180,000 and the average interest rate rose to 3.01%. In Catalonia, the INE, Spain’s statistics institute, recorded 8,858 home mortgages in July, 4.9% more than a year earlier and the best July figure since 2010. Financial coverage also focused on the potential savings from comparing offers from lenders such as Banco Sabadell, Ibercaja and CaixaBank.
Spain
Mobilisations over the housing decree spread to Palma and Madrid
Around 2,500 people gathered in Palma to demand indefinite rent extensions and a ban on evictions, in protests linked to the Maricarmen case and the housing decree. In Madrid, the Puerta del Sol camp entered a third night demanding that the Tenants’ Union’s proposals be taken forward.
Spain
Banco Sabadell criticises rent regulation and calls for more housing construction
Banco Sabadell questioned rent regulation and argued for increasing housing construction to avoid a greater market imbalance. The bank linked the problem to a shortage of supply.
Spain
Opinion piece frames housing as a basic right amid price rises
An opinion piece argues that Spain is facing a severe housing crisis and says purchase prices have risen by more than 45% over the past decade, compared with wage growth of around 15%. It argues that housing should not be treated as a commodity.
Spain
The 1985 end of indefinite leases returns to the debate
An article recalled that the Boyer decree of May 1985 removed a favourable condition for tenants: indefinite rental contracts. It says that model has not been restored.
Spain
Political columns read the housing crisis through elections and the urgency of the decree
Two opinion pieces placed the housing crisis at the centre of political calculations. One addressed Sánchez’s response to the decree, while another linked the debate to the PSOE’s electoral strategy in the Valencian Country.
Spain
Analysis contrasts evictions, the right to housing and property rights
An analytical article argues that evictions have been on a downward trend from 2014 to 2026 and frames the debate around the balance between the right to housing and property rights. It places the Maricarmen case within that tension.
International
England to give councils stronger powers on homelessness
Housing associations in England will be told they cannot refuse to house homeless families without good reason, as part of a push for greater public control over housing. Charities described the measure as a significant change amid rising rough sleeping and temporary accommodation, with almost 180,000 children living in temporary housing.
International
Experts warn homes are still being built without adapting to extreme heat
Urban economics specialist Edouard Dequeker and architect Alireza Razavi argue in an opinion article that homes are still being built without checking whether they will remain liveable at 40°C. They say adapting cities to global warming is urgent, although obstacles remain despite available technical solutions.
BUYING · PROVINCE OF BARCELONA
An 80 m² flat in the province is valued at €273,100
A weighted average of 16,066 real appraisals this quarter.
273,100€
The average appraised value of resale housing in the province of Barcelona is €3,414/m². For 80 built square metres, that's €273,100.
Appraised value is the conservative benchmark a bank uses to grant a mortgage, and it comes from 16,066 appraisals carried out this quarter. What actually gets recorded on the deed tends to run higher.
Rented at the province's average, €997 a month, that flat yields 4.4% gross: 22.8 years of rent equal the purchase price.
The purchase price is never the final outlay. Notary fees, land registry and taxes always sit on top, and the exact figure shifts depending on whether the flat is new or resale and which municipality it's in: anyone who budgets only for the flat's price tends to find the rest halfway through the deal, once it's too late to negotiate better terms.
And the appraised price isn't the sale price either. A bank values conservatively because it's the one carrying the risk if something goes wrong; what a buyer actually pays depends on real supply in that municipality at that moment, not on this average.
Source: Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana and INCASÒL, Primer trimestre de 2026 · 38 municipalities in the province of Barcelona. Resale housing figures, unaltered.