Barcelona · Vallès Occidental

El Diario de la Vivienda

Barcelona · Sabadell · Terrassa · Rubí · Sant Cugat · Cerdanyola

Friday, 9 October 2026

Edition of Friday, 9 October 2026

What happened

Thursday, 8 October 2026

Vallès

Sant Cugat receives more than 5,000 applications for protected housing

Sant Cugat has now passed 5,000 applications from people seeking access to protected housing. The figure shows the pressure on affordable homes in a municipality where demand for price-limited housing is far higher than the available supply.

Protected housing is housing promoted or classified by the public administration with regulated access conditions and prices. It is usually allocated through registers, scoring systems or ballots, and is aimed at households that meet certain income and residence requirements.

For owners, the figure points to a local market under strong demand pressure, especially in the more affordable segments. For tenants or buyers on low or middle incomes, it shows that access to protected housing may require patience and that registering does not guarantee a home.

Vallès

ERC calls for €3 million for housing in Terrassa’s budget

ERC wants Terrassa’s 2027 budget to allocate up to €3 million to housing, more than three times the amount planned by the municipal government. The party presents the proposal as a budget demand, while saying there will be neither red lines nor blank cheques.

Vallès

Housing groups launch a grassroots housing forum in Cerdanyola

The PAHC and the Tenants’ Union are promoting a grassroots housing forum in Cerdanyola. The initiative aims to organise a social response to problems in accessing housing.

Vallès

Neighbourhood mobilisation halts two evictions in Sabadell

Neighbours and PAHC members gathered to stop two evictions in two days in Sabadell. One of the cases involved a woman and her underage daughter.

Vallès

Sant Cugat eviction suspended for four months

The court has accepted Carme’s appeal and suspended for four months the eviction scheduled on Pau Casals street in Sant Cugat. No new eviction date has been set for now.

Vallès

Promusa publishes the results of its rental housing draws

Promusa has published the results of its rental housing draws in Sant Cugat. The announcement allows applicants to check the outcome of the allocation process.

Vallès

Housing access debate focuses on its socio-economic effects

The difficulties of accessing housing are being addressed through their socio-economic consequences. The approach presents housing as a factor with an impact beyond the property market.

Barcelona

Collboni maintains Barcelona will eliminate all tourist flats in 2028

Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni reaffirmed his intention to end all tourist flats in the city from 2028. He argued that the housing crisis requires a change to the current rules.

Read more ›

Jaume Collboni has repeated that Barcelona is maintaining its aim of eliminating all tourist flats in the city from 2028. The mayor argued that the housing crisis requires a change to the current rules and a stronger priority for residential use over tourist accommodation.

Tourist flats operate with licences and are subject to municipal and regional regulation. In cities with heavy tourist pressure, these homes have faced restrictions because they compete for space with residential rentals and can affect the supply available in certain neighbourhoods.

For owners with tourist accommodation, the announcement keeps a horizon of regulatory uncertainty and makes it important to follow rule changes closely. For tenants and residents, a reduction in these uses could increase the number of homes available for ordinary residence, although the real effect will depend on implementation and market behaviour.

Barcelona

Woman and two children evicted in central Barcelona despite vulnerability status

A woman with two children was evicted on La Rambla in Barcelona after the new housing decree came into force. The case involved two vulnerable situations: the family’s vulnerability had been certified, but there was also a vulnerable person on the other side.

Barcelona

Barcelona rental market tightens with waiting lists to view flats

Rental supply in Barcelona continues to shrink and some agencies have waiting lists of dozens of people for available homes. The situation shows strong demand pressure on rental flats.

Barcelona

Raval resident lives under threat of possible eviction

A resident of El Raval describes the fear of losing her home in a Barcelona shaped by the housing crisis. Her case illustrates the uncertainty faced by households threatened with eviction.

Barcelona

People’s Party criticises public purchase of an occupied block in Barcelona

The People’s Party accused Salvador Illa and Jaume Collboni of acting like an “estate agency for squatters” over the purchase of a block in Barcelona to prevent several families being evicted. PP politician Daniel Sirera also criticised the acquisition of the occupied building.

Barcelona

Unions call Barcelona protest over deaths linked to evictions

Unions and campaign groups have called a joint demonstration in Barcelona under the slogan “The housing business kills”. The protest is framed as a response to deaths linked to evictions.

Barcelona

Barcelona halts eviction of Àgora del Raval site and negotiates purchase

Barcelona City Council has halted the eviction of the occupied Àgora del Raval site. The council is negotiating with Sareb, Spain’s state-backed bad bank, to buy the land.

Barcelona

Barcelona mural turns Maricarmen into a symbol of the housing struggle

Artist TvBoy has dedicated a mural in Barcelona to Maricarmen, who died and has become a symbol of housing mobilisation. The work comes amid protests over evictions.

Catalonia

Illa and Cecot put housing at the centre of Catalan business debate

At Cecot’s business night in Sant Cugat, Salvador Illa described housing as one of Catalonia’s major challenges and argued that the sector should not be left solely to the free market. The employers’ association called for a focus on building homes and avoiding a clash between landlords and tenants, while questioning the call for a general strike over housing.

Catalonia

Opinion article links housing, elections and social mobilisation

An opinion article argues that the housing crisis, anti-eviction camps and the death of Maricarmen Abascal have shaped the start of the electoral race. It highlights that housing has become a central issue in Catalonia and Spain.

Spain

CIS poll shows broad support for intervention in the housing market

A dedicated CIS public research institute poll shows that 86% of citizens are very or fairly concerned about housing and that a large majority support intervening in the market as much as necessary. The survey also records support for freezing rents, limiting tourist flats and raising taxes on large landlords, as well as signs of hardship: 7.5% share a flat with non-relatives, 13% of those sharing a home sleep in a room with someone who is not their partner, and two in ten have moved because they could not afford housing.

Read more ›

The CIS housing barometer shows that housing worries 86% of the public either a lot or quite a lot, and that a broad majority supports intervening in the market as much as necessary. It also records support for freezing rents, limiting tourist flats and raising taxes on large landlords. Among the difficulties identified, 7.5% share a flat with non-relatives, 13% of those sharing a home sleep in a room with someone who is not their partner, and two in ten have moved because they could not afford their housing.

The CIS is the public body that carries out opinion surveys in Spain. Its barometers measure social perceptions and political preferences, but they do not pass laws or have direct legal effects. Intervention in the housing market can include rent limits, regulation of tourist uses, taxation or more protected housing.

For owners and tenants, the result shows that housing remains at the centre of public debate. It does not change contracts or taxes by itself, but it may influence the political agenda.

Spain

Housing decree takes effect with changes for landlords and tenants

The new housing decree is now in force and changes rules on extensions, prices and temporary rentals, while strengthening tenants’ rights. Measures cited include allowing tenants to carry out repairs and deduct the cost from rent, limiting added charges in affordable housing, and setting stricter conditions so that a temporary contract is not treated as a main home.

Spain

OCU finds very few rentals below €700 in Madrid and Barcelona

A study by consumer group OCU found only 13 rental homes below €700 in Madrid and nine in Barcelona. The figure points to the shortage of affordable supply in Spain’s two largest cities.

Spain

Protected housing starts rise but remain far below private-market building

Public administrations have started building 70% more protected homes than in the same period a year earlier. In absolute terms, that means 13,942 homes, compared with 67,500 intended for the private market.

Spain

Higher-income neighbourhoods receive half of rental income

Spanish Tax Agency data show that half of rental income in Spain is collected in the richest neighbourhoods of the largest cities. The analysis shows how property income is geographically concentrated in wealthier areas.

Spain

Housing protests in Spain point to investment funds

Protesters camped in central Madrid blame vulture funds for Spain’s housing crisis. The protests come as the Spanish prime minister has called a snap election.

International

AI boom puts pressure on San Francisco rents

San Francisco is seeing renewed pressure on rents linked to the growth of the artificial intelligence sector. According to the city’s rent board, eviction notices are up 44%.

Read more ›

San Francisco is seeing renewed pressure on rents linked to the growth of the artificial intelligence sector. According to the city’s rent board, eviction notices are up 44%, while tenant advocacy organisations are handling more queries about evictions or possible landlord misconduct.

The city has long faced severe housing pressure associated with technology cycles, high salaries and limited housing supply. Eviction notices are an indicator of conflict between landlords and tenants, although they do not necessarily mean that an eviction has been carried out.

For owners and tenants in other urban markets, the case shows how a rapid influx of highly paid jobs can put pressure on rents. Owners may see stronger demand, but also closer regulatory scrutiny; tenants may face more competition and a greater risk of rent rises or displacement if supply does not increase.

International

More French municipalities adopt prior permits for renting homes

The Rennes metropolitan authority has approved a scheme requiring owners of certain homes in the old centre to seek authorisation before renting them out. The measure, already in use in more than 700 municipalities, is used to tackle substandard and unhealthy housing.

International

Phineas Harper backs giving public land for social housing in the UK

In an opinion article, Phineas Harper argues that giving public land to community groups rather than private developers could help build social housing. The piece refers to plans by Lewisham council in south London.

Figure of the day

EVICTIONS · CGPJ, 1T 2026

Catalunya accounts for 1 in 4 evictions in Spain

921 evictions carried out this quarter, more than any other region.

23%

Catalunya recorded 921 evictions in 1T 2026, 23% of the 4,005 carried out across Spain — more than any other autonomous region, according to Spain's General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ).

Of those, 489 stemmed from unpaid rent (under the Urban Leases Act) and 217 from mortgage foreclosures; Catalunya leads this second category too, ahead of Andalusia and the Valencian Community. The remaining 215 fall under other causes the CGPJ doesn't break down.

The national figure fell 45.4% on the same quarter of 2025, but that doesn't change Catalunya's relative weight: it remains the region with the most evictions carried out.

If you have a rented flat and the tenant stops paying, the timeline isn't set by the landlord — it's set by the court. The sooner you act, the sooner it's resolved, and that part genuinely depends on who's handling it.

The costliest mistake is waiting. Every month without action is a month of lost rent that's almost never recovered, and the process doesn't start running until the claim is filed: landlords who let the first missed payment slide because "next month's payer will surely pay" tend to end up stringing several together.

Prevention still costs less than the process: checking solvency before signing heads off most of these cases. Once someone is in the flat, what decides how long resolution takes is no longer the landlord — it's which route gets chosen and how quickly it's pursued.

Source: General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), 1T 2026. Resale housing figures, unaltered.

Today's figures

Mollet · Rent

Rent in Mollet is signed at €721 a month

The average rent from contracts with a deposit lodged this quarter — not what's asked for in listings.

721€/month

The average contracted rent in Mollet is €721 a month.

The figure comes from INCASÒL and is calculated over 140 contracts with the deposit already lodged. In other words: rents actually signed, not prices asked for — the gap between the two usually runs to several dozen euros.

That's €416 a month less than Barcelona's average (€1,137).

It's the 11th most expensive of the twelve municipalities this paper tracks.

A standard residential lease runs five years if the landlord is a private individual and seven if it's a company, with rent updated against the index set by Spain's statistics institute (INE).

Source: INCASÒL, 1T 2026 · 140 contracts. Resale housing figures, unaltered.

Santa Perpètua de Mogoda · Affordability

Santa Perpètua de Mogoda needs 22.1 years of rent to buy a flat

How many years of rent equal the purchase price, before interest or fees.

22.1years

An 80 m² flat in Santa Perpètua de Mogoda is valued at €198,000. Rented at €745 a month, that generates €8,940 a year — so buying equals 22.1 years of rent.

It's the mirror image of yield: the more years, the more expensive buying is relative to renting. It doesn't include mortgage interest, purchase taxes, or renovation costs, all of which push the figure higher.

As a reference point, Spain's national average has historically moved between 15 and 25 years depending on the cycle.

Santa Perpètua de Mogoda is the 7th most expensive of the twelve municipalities in the area, and the 10th most expensive to rent. Where those two rankings don't match is where the opportunities tend to sit.

Source: Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana and INCASÒL, Primer trimestre de 2026. Resale housing figures, unaltered.

Granollers · Yield

Buy-to-let in Granollers yields 4.9% gross

A €202,100 purchase against €9,912 a year in rent.

4.9%

An 80 m² flat in Granollers is valued at €202,100, and its average rent is €826 a month — €9,912 a year. That works out to a gross yield of 4.9%.

Gross means before anything else: council tax (IBI), community fees, insurance, one-off building charges, income tax on the rent, and any months the flat sits empty. Net yield lands well below that.

It's the 5th most of the twelve municipalities in the area. Worth distrusting the shortcut of always going for the highest yield: high yield tends to travel with low prices, and low prices with weaker rental demand and higher turnover.

The figure is for comparing municipalities against each other, not for deciding on a purchase. A specific flat can yield well above or well below its city's average.

Source: Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana and INCASÒL, Primer trimestre de 2026. Resale housing figures, unaltered.

Barcelona · Comparison

Buying in Barcelona costs 7% less than in Sant Cugat

The two towns, same sources, same quarter.

7%cheaper

An 80 m² flat is valued at €374,000 in Barcelona and €402,900 in Sant Cugat: a €28,900 gap in Barcelona's favour.

Where they do split is on yield: Barcelona returns 0.7 points less a year (3.6% versus 4.4%).

On rent, Barcelona signs at €1,137 a month and Sant Cugat at €1,476: a €339 gap across 8,490 deposit-lodged contracts between the two.

Comparing towns is useful for orientation, not for pricing. Within a single town, the gap between neighbourhoods is usually bigger than the one between these two.

Source: Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana and INCASÒL, Primer trimestre de 2026 · resale housing. Resale housing figures, unaltered.

The market, municipality by municipality

Municipality80 m² flatRentYield
Sant Cugat402,900 €1,476 €4.4 %
Barcelona374,000 €1,137 €3.6 %
Cerdanyola233,500 €906 €4.7 %
Barberà206,800 €857 €5.0 %
Granollers202,100 €826 €4.9 %
Ripollet198,400 €751 €4.5 %
Santa Perpètua de Mogoda198,000 €745 €4.5 %
Mollet196,200 €721 €4.4 %
Rubí196,100 €816 €5.0 %
Sabadell193,700 €869 €5.4 %
Montcada i Reixac184,800 €663 €4.3 %
Terrassa183,200 €765 €5.0 %

Appraised value of resale housing (Ministry of Housing) and average rent from contracts with a deposit lodged (INCASÒL). Gross yield is annual rent over purchase price, before council tax, community fees, insurance, other taxes and vacant months.

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