Should public money be spent on buying private property?

In early February 2025, Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni announced that the city government, together with non-profit social entity Hàbitat3, would purchase Casa Orsola from the investment fund Lioness Inversiones for €9.2 million. 

“All evictions will be suspended as we buy the building as a city along with an entity that has a funded experience and a long-term trajectory to send a strong message," Collboni announced at the time, adding that the move was “extraordinary” and a “pioneering operation.” 

Lukewarm reception 

Not everyone shared the mayor’s enthusiasm, however, and the move was widely criticized across political and social interests. 

In a press release at the time, the Association of Real Estate Agents of Catalonia (AIC) and the Association of Real Estate Property Agents of Barcelona (API) called Casa Orsola “another piece in a model of public intervention that demotivates and destabilizes the rental market.” 

The latter also stated that a “worrisome precedent” had been created, while the Catalan Owners’ Association went a step further and called the precedent “very dangerous.” 

On the other side of the spectrum, housing activists did not hesitate to criticize the news.  

Marta Espriu, spokesperson for the 2nd Housing Congress of Catalonia told the Catalan News Agency (ACN), that they couldn’t celebrate the purchase “as a victory” because they were not in favor of “injecting private companies with public money.” 

“What price are we willing to pay?” 

Similarly, Carme Arcarazo, spokesperson of the Tenants’ Union, said that while it was “great” that the city would have more public housing units, the real question was: “What price are we willing to pay for it?”

The Tenant’s Union has spent years fighting for laws that protect renters, staging massive demonstrations and strikes, launching a marathon campaign to prevent the eviction of Casa Orsola tenants in January prior to the purchase. 

Lionness Inversiones originally bought the modernist Eixample building for €5.4 million and stands to make around €3.8 million profit from the sale, a fact that has been condemned both by the Tenants’ Union and Eixample residents alike.  

“The bad side of it is that the person who created the problem is the one who ends up winning, because [Lioness Inversiones] makes money from selling the building,” Claudia, who lives in Eixample tells Catalan News.  

When the news broke, the Tenants’ Union criticized that "instead of helping the tenants, the city council decided to turn its back on the tenants and the union to ensure that the speculator doesn’t lose a single euro.”

The Barcelona City Council, meanwhile, has defended the decision, saying that the sale price was 30% lower than the average market price for similar housing in the same district of the city.  

According to Mariano, a Barcelona resident, the deal should have been made before the evictions began.  

“The most important thing is that it shouldn’t happen again,” he stresses. “The city shouldn’t let vulture funds, banks, and people with millions and millions buy up houses to throw people out of their homes.” 

Signed behind closed doors 

Although Hàbitat3 has admitted that the deal has not yet been finalized, another criticism of the possible purchase is what Carme Arcarazo sees as a lack of transparency.  

“It was an agreement that was signed behind closed doors,” she complains. “It’s very unfair that someone who has tortured the neighbors for three years is now being rewarded.” 

She also questions the mayor’s motives behind the deal: “I think the reason why Jaume Collboni bought it is because he saw that this was becoming a mobilization that was growing every day. It had become a symbol, and it was getting out of hand, and could become a problem for the council.” 

No magic solution 

Meanwhile, it’s hard to find consensus on how to solve the housing problem even though access to housing was the main concern of Catalans, according to a 2024 survey conducted by the Center for Opinion Studies. 

Two Eixample residents, Maribel and Carlos, who both live near Casa Orsola are not convinced by the “Casa Orsola model” because they believe that each case should be treated equally.  

While Maribel says that it’s “very good” that the residents won’t lose their homes, buying only Casa Orsola when there are many others in need is not “fair”. “If this is bought, why aren’t others?” she asks rhetorically.  

Carlos agrees: “This is not the only such case, nor will it be the last, and all of them deserve to be resolved in the same way.”  

“This issue could have been handled in many ways, and I don’t think the city has handled it properly.” 

For Claudia, the solution may not be perfect, but at least it’s a way to increase the housing stock. “I don’t think the perfect solution exists, and you can't make everybody happy.” 

Jaume Collboni has said that he is open to applying the “Casa Orsola model” again, although it should be studied "case by case but what needs to be done is to change the rules of the game," as "there is no magic solution." 

Symbol of housing crisis 

Casa Orsola has become a symbol of Barcelona's housing crisis in recent years and has gathered much media attention.  

The building was purchased by investment fund Lioness Inversiones in 2021 and since then has stopped renewing leases of the residents in the building, favoring instead to convert the flats into short-term lets, which are exempt from any rent cap regulation.