Barcelona has overcome the crisis derived from the pandemic on a good note and, after eight years marked by a concatenation of exceptional events (an unexpected change in the municipal government, an attack in the heart of the city, the political and social outbreak caused by the process, the covid and its multiple consequences) faces a new stage starting from a good base (a certain economic vigor) but with a City Council that has never in its history been under the command of such a minority government and with a momentarily extended budget that It hampers investment capacity, at least at the start of this term.
In an undisguised attempt to demonstrate that the recomposition of the old romance between the local administration and the private sector is a fact, after a time of distancing, if not of fighting and interestedly visualizing the hostilities, last week the mayor Jaume Collboni formed a new Social Dialogue Table with employers and unions.
The founding document of this advisory body lists the main challenges that Barcelona must address in the coming years. In the list of good intentions, which could be signed by the vast majority of the population and, with nuances, almost the entire political arc, there is no room for surprises: diversify the productive economy; promote quality employment and fight against precariousness; retain and attract talent; boost digitalization; guarantee the right to housing; develop sustainable mobility; ensure the global connectivity of the metropolis… The final goal is well defined, the best roadmap remains to be appropriately chosen.
The challenges facing Barcelona and its metropolitan area hardly differ from those that any other large city with a global dimension will have to face. In most cases, the solution is not immediate. This is what happens, for example, with what is the main problem of the Catalan capital beyond the surveys, which place citizen insecurity at the top of that podium.
Only 1.8% of Barcelona’s housing stock is publicly owned. The average price of a new rental in the city breaks historical records and stands at 1,171 euros. Buying an apartment now in a country traditionally owned by owners like this has become impossible, not only in the municipality of Barcelona but in its entire first crown. This being the case, the possibilities of reversing this situation in the short term are almost zero, although this should not serve as an excuse for public administrations to throw another year away. The Catalan and Spanish governments have hinted that this time things are serious, that they have already begun to recharge their batteries, and in Barcelona City Council there are signs of revising regulations, such as the obligation to allocate 30% of new promotions or major rehabilitations to affordable housing, which have not achieved the promised results.
The political response (and the legal establishment) must be faster to the problem of citizen insecurity, a problem that is based on subjective perceptions but also on the latest statistics, which reveal a worrying increase in criminal acts.
On the other hand, another of the major pending subjects that cannot be approved for a few years is public transport, the master key to efficient mobility that meets the environmental criteria imposed by higher authorities. Also in this section, after years of hesitation and paralysis, the machines and workers have returned to the chopping block to unlock such relevant projects as the L8 of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (the connection between Plaza Espanya and Gràcia) or the central section of the L9 of the metro. Another project will have less impact, which this year will be a reality, only partially, when 14 years will have passed since the then mayor Jordi Hereu included it in the consultation on the reform of the Diagonal, the tram between Glòries and Verdaguer. For the section from Verdaguer to Francesc Macià there is no calendar nor can significant progress be expected in this mandate.
