Paris has 17 times more social housing per resident than Barcelona

Paris has far more social housing than Barcelona in relation to its population: 17 times more per 1,000 inhabitants. The comparison highlights a very wide gap in the public or protected housing stock intended to provide rents or accommodation below market levels.

Social housing is the result of decisions built up over decades: reserved land, public investment, social landlords and rules that keep homes within the affordable system. In Spain and in Barcelona, the public housing stock has historically been small and the private market plays a much larger role in access to housing.

For landlords and tenants, the difference matters because a small social stock leaves more pressure on the private rental market. In the long term, expanding affordable housing may affect competition for homes and the room for manoeuvre available to public authorities.