Overview
- The Ayuntamiento published the 2026 Encuesta de Servicios Municipales this Wednesday, based on 6,000 interviews from February to April, with insecurity at 23.8% and access to housing at 23% as the city's top concerns.
- Compared with 2025, perceived insecurity fell by 2.7 percentage points while housing concern rose by 2.2 points, and over the last decade insecurity has grown 7.3 points and housing 13.2 points.
- When asked about their own personal problems, residents put housing first at 16.9% and insecurity second at 12.5%, reflecting how the housing squeeze affects everyday life.
- Perceptions vary strongly by district, with Ciutat Vella reporting 44% naming insecurity as the main problem and Gràcia showing the highest housing strain at 11.5%, while tourism and cleanliness score differently across neighborhoods.
- The survey also records deep demographic shifts—near parity between people born in Barcelona (39%) and born abroad (38%), a 46% rental share, and more households without private vehicles—and shows overall municipal ratings high, a mix likely to push policy debate toward housing measures and targeted public-safety actions.