Zones with 'tense housing market' more than doubled in Catalonia

The Catalan Government has more than doubled the number of towns they officially declare to be in a 'tense housing zone,' from 60 to 140. 

These areas are deemed to have difficult housing situations, where owners will have to limit the price of rent, in accordance with Spain's new housing law which officially came into force in May.

The announcement came from the minister of territory, Ester Capella, in an interview with Catalunya Ràdio on Thursday morning, in which she commented that the executive has started the process of applying the law to prevent rent prices from rising "disproportionately." 

"Not doing anything would mean more of everything that has been happening, wild increases in rent prices, people being evicted," she added.

Around 6.2 million people live in the 140 municipalities, some 80% of the total Catalan population. Included in the list are practically all towns in the Barcelona metropolitan area, the regional capitals, and various coastal, mountainous, and rural counties. 

The government's official gazette published the announcement of the declaration process that will apply to more than double the initially planned locations. These towns will be considered tense housing zones for three years and this may be extended annually.

The minister pointed out that the process of applying the law, which came into force at the end of May, is now beginning.

Now, the Catalan government has drawn up the list that are declared tense areas and 20 days will be given to present appeals. After these have been resolved, the definitive report will be presented to the Spanish government for approval and the law can enter into force definitively.

Capella hopes that this will be approved before a potential change of government after the July elections: "It's a matter of personal will," she remarked.

"Catalonia will not stop doing what it has to do to guarantee the right to housing", the minister pointed out, making clear that this right is "fundamental because it is the gateway to other rights."

"If you don't have the right to a roof that shelters you, you hardly have the right to health, education, or others that we are obliged to guarantee to citizens," she argued.

To declare the 140 municipalities as tense housing zones, the Catalan government has detected reasons such as the cost of rent or mortgage plus basic expenses exceeding 30% of average income, or that the rental or purchase price of housing has seen cumulative growth of at least three percentage points higher than the cumulative growth of inflation in the past five years.

Check out our podcast, published in June 2021, on soaring rents in Barcelona for an in-depth report on the underlying crisis: