The house was the focus of a large part of the meeting between Pere Aragonès and Jaume Collboni, held yesterday at the Palau de la Generalitat, the first since the traditional reception of the president to the new mayor just after being invested that took place on June 17 . That time the atmosphere between the two was rough, and in this last one, which lasted an hour and a quarter, on the other hand, it was cordial and, in accordance with the evaluations of the batlle itself and of the Councilor of the Presidency, Laura Vilagrà, highly positive in facing the affairs that the two administrations have pending in favor of the city.
The housing portfolio is a priority for Collboni, which has proposed expanding the public park and, for this reason, requires the commitment of the Catalan Administration, which the president assured him yesterday. In this sense, the mayor offered the Generalitat 27 plots of land owned by the municipality so that the Institut Català del Sòl (Incasòl) could build sheltered flats for rent. According to the City Council’s estimates, a total of 1,764 flats could be built on this land.
Fourteen of these lots are available in the short term, practically immediately, and thirteen, in the medium term, but in any case during the current municipal mandate, which ends in 2027. The first package can involve the construction of 811 homes, and the second, from another 953. All the promotions can involve, according to the numbers made by the municipal administration, an investment of 264.6 million euros.
“The main challenge is called housing, it is the real battle horse of the municipal government for the next four years”, emphasized Collboni after the meeting with Aragonès. “We know that it is a complex problem that does not have simple or quick solutions, but we must address it immediately”, added the mayor, who valued the good reception of this proposal.
Now, Incasòl’s technical services will analyze the terrains case by case to determine which ones to start working on. The mayor expressed his desire that as many apartments as possible – all of them if possible – be put into operation during the current mandate.
“We can’t waste any more time, we have to activate all the mechanisms we have to win the battle in favor of affordable housing”, insisted Collboni, who opted to “make a real leap of faith” and, thanks to the increase in public supply, being able to moderate prices and prevent Barcelona residents from having to leave the city due to the high cost of housing.
In this area, he recalled the work done by the previous municipal government, in which his party, the PSC, formed a coalition with BComú – housing policies depended on the latter – and which led to the fact that there are currently there are 4,892 flats under construction in Barcelona promoted by the City Council.
Aragonès announced in March the plan to add 10,000 homes to the social rental park in Catalonia, part of which will be promoted by Incasòl. It is expected that this unprecedented action will be deployed in the 82 municipalities with the most access problems, most of them in the metropolitan region of Barcelona, ??including the capital. Then it was not specified where they would be built.
During the last municipal mandate with Ada Colau as mayor, the City Council and the Generalitat became embroiled in a controversy over the construction of housing by the Catalan Administration in Barcelona. The councilor of BComú accused the Government of not building in the capital and the Executive of Aragonès replied that he was not giving him lots.
Housing was one of the central issues of the electoral campaign of 28- M. Collboni promised that he would put all the mechanisms in place so that Barcelona’s public park grows through collaboration with other administrations, especially with the Generalitat, which has the main competencies in this area, and with the private sector. As for the Catalan Administration, he announced that he would cede land to it.
The president and the mayor also agreed that they would reactivate the bilateral commission between the administrations they lead.
The next meeting will be on October 20. It will evaluate the investments committed by the Generalitat in the 2023 budget in Barcelona – some of which are the result of the ERC agreement with the PSC -, mainly in public transport, educational and health equipment, social services and security.
