Barcelona’s municipal Ombudsman, David Bondia, has called on the Ajuntament de Barcelona, the city council, to make municipal registration faster for people regardless of their housing situation.
The request matters to residents without stable housing because the padrón, also known as empadronamiento, is the municipal register that records a person as living in the city. Bondia said people are still being left unprotected when the process is delayed.
“Registration must be swift, whatever a person’s housing situation.”
Bondia made the request in proposals submitted to Barcelona City Council alongside his institution’s 2024 annual report, according to ACN and El País.
Registration and emergency housing among ten proposals
The Ombudsman included quicker registration among ten proposed improvements for the city council. The list also addressed bureaucracy in grants for small organisations, signs in some public squares that prohibit ball games, and a protocol to reduce telephone and fibre cabling on building façades.
Bondia also called for suitable emergency temporary accommodation. He said some families remain in guesthouses or rooms in shared flats for two years or longer while they wait for a housing solution.
- The Ombudsman said stays in emergency accommodation can last two years or more.
- He questioned the use of a tourism operator to manage accommodation for families in guesthouses.
- He said expenditure on guesthouses can reach €60,000 a day and suggested funds could instead help prevent evictions.
According to ACN, Bondia asked the city council for a change in its emergency-accommodation model and for registration procedures to be accelerated.
Reported by elperiodico.com, ACN, europapress.es, Clara Blanchar, El Periódico Barcelona.
