Housing moves up to top concern of Barcelona residents, overtaking safety

Barcelona residents consider access to housing the main problem in the city.

Housing was cited as the top concern by 29.9% of respondents to the latest municipal survey published this Monday.

This figure represents a slight increase compared to last December, when it was cited by 28.8% of participating residents.

Housing has overtaken safety as the main concern for citizens. Safety has dropped by five percentage points in the last six months, going from 28.9% to 23.1%, falling to second in the ranking. 

Tourism is third with 9.8% of the responses, far from the 13.0% of a year ago.

Immigration (5.7%) and cleanliness (5.1%) round out the top five issues that worry Barcelonians.

This time the survey does not include information regarding the municipal government's management of housing.

Last December, 31.6% of those questioned believed that the council was doing "nothing" to solve the housing crisis, while 25.4% considered that it was doing "little". On the other hand, 26.5% regarded its actions as "normal" in the face of the housing crisis, and 10.5% argued that it was doing "a lot" or "enough" to guarantee access to housing.

The survey data also reveal that there is a positive opinion about the current state of the economy in the city. Nearly half, 45.5% of people, said they have positive opinions about the evolution of the economy over the last year. 

Incivility and politics

When asked directly, eight out of ten Barcelona residents recognized problems of incivility in the city. Nearly half, 47.3%, of people assessed it as a serious problem, and 36.1% as very serious.

The people interviewed were also consulted on various aspects regarding interest in politics. Around 54% of the people surveyed stated that they follow politics carried out by the various institutions with interest.

No significant differences were detected between the interest aroused by the city council, the Catalan government, and the Spanish government.

The most common habit for getting information about politics is informal conversation with friends and family, with around 70% doing so occasionally, often or always, followed by television, newspapers, social networks and, lastly, radio, the least frequent medium.