Over 80% of homeless people in Barcelona receive no social care in first month on streets

The Arrels Foundation has warned that 81% of people who have been living on the streets in Barcelona for less than a month have not received any type of social care. 

This finding was included in their report 'Living on the streets in Barcelona – Snapshot of a homeless city', which the charitable organization presented on Wednesday. 

Young people were discovered to be the most neglected group, as 56% of those under the age of 25 stated that they had not received public or private social care in the last six months. 

The report also reveals that 1,384 people lived on the streets of Barcelona in December 2023, the highest figure ever recorded. 

Time on streets increasing 

The Arrels report is based on a survey conducted with 685 homeless people carried out from June 13 to 15 on the streets of Barcelona and at the premises of thirteen social entities. 

Time spent on the streets has risen compared to the previous year's data. 

On average, the people interviewed lived on the streets for four years and five months, while the previous year's figure was four years and four months. 

The director of the foundation, Eva Fernández, warned that this was a "very high" figure, which has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, when it was three years and five months. 

"The more time spent on the street, the more difficult it is for a person to be able to reverse the situation by their own means," she said. 

The report also found that 87% of people living on the streets were men, the average age was 43 years old, and that 74% of homeless people were immigrants.