Barcelona and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat are facing a growing crisis of housing overcrowding, with 2,328 flats in Barcelona and 667 in L'Hospitalet now officially registering more than 10 residents each. According to municipal registry (padrón) data obtained by EL PERIÓDICO, the number of severely overcrowded homes has nearly doubled in Barcelona since 2021, when 1,279 properties reported over a dozen residents. In 2024, the figure peaked at 2,546 flats with more than 10 people registered before slightly declining in 2025.
The padrón, a municipal register used to allocate public services, records legal residency but does not verify living conditions. Barcelona City Council clarified that overcrowding cannot legally prevent registration, meaning 'pisos patera', informal, slum-like housing arrangements, often appear in official data. While some cases involve administrative delays or outdated registrations, the trend reflects a broader pattern of substandard housing, particularly in vulnerable neighbourhoods like Raval and L'Hospitalet's Samontà district.
Migration and Housing Pressure Intensify
L'Hospitalet has seen its number of overcrowded flats triple since 2020, rising from 222 to 667. The Samontà area alone gained 12,000 residents in recent years, 43.8% of whom arrived from abroad. Many are displaced from Barcelona due to soaring rents. Municipal data show 30% of newcomers are of foreign origin but previously lived in the capital.
Laia Costa, lawyer and spokesperson for the Padró X Totes network, said the lack of a regional homelessness policy forces people into overcrowded housing. 'We still don't have a network of municipal shelters for homeless people. In a context of increasing residential exclusion, where do people end up going? To Barcelona,' she said.
It is legal, but the police can carry out inspections.
Costa warned that while mass registration is not illegal, it can trigger police scrutiny. She stressed that systemic failures in housing policy are driving the crisis, particularly affecting migrants from the global south but also including local residents.
Metropolitan Spread of Overcrowding
The issue extends beyond the two largest cities. Santa Coloma de Gramenet has the highest rate per household: 70.6 overcrowded flats per 10,000 homes. In 2025, it recorded 312 such properties, up from 190 in 2021. Sabadell reported 211, Terrassa 175, and Mataró 199. Mollet del Vallès doubled its count from 35 to 97, while Castelldefels saw 101 in 2024 and 96 in 2025. Cerdanyola del Vallès rose from 28 to 59. Lleida, the only non-metropolitan city providing data, has 268.
One Barcelona property has consistently registered between 31 and 33 people. The council described it as a 'vertical property' of over 2,000 m² owned by a single entity, highlighting the complexity of interpreting padrón data. The Barcelona registry processes around 4,700 procedures daily, 1.72 million annually, increasing the risk of anomalies.
Residents concerned about housing conditions or seeking support can contact local social services through the Ajuntament de Barcelona’s official portal at www.barcelona.cat.
Reported by El Periódico Barcelona.
