Jaume COLLBONI

Mayor of Barcelona

The case of Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman from Madrid who passed away just days after being evicted from the home where she had lived – and paid for – for decades, has resonated far beyond Spain’s borders. It has become a powerful symbol of a deeper crisis affecting our societies. For too long, housing has been treated primarily as a commodity rather than as a fundamental human right. For too long, we have been told that markets would regulate themselves and that public intervention would do more harm than good. Today, the evidence is undeniable: that approach has failed.

The question we must now confront is straightforward: what must we do to ensure that housing is guaranteed as a right, and not merely traded as an asset?

The political divide on this issue is becoming increasingly clear. Across Europe and beyond, conservative and runaway market-oriented forces continue to argue that governments should largely stand aside. According to this view, rising rents, growing housing insecurity and the displacement of residents from the communities they call home are unfortunate but inevitable consequences of economic reality. Citizens are expected to adapt, even when this means giving up the prospect of owning a home or being forced to leave the cities in which they work, study and build their lives.

We progressives take a different view.

We believe that housing is a right and that public authorities have a responsibility to ensure that right is realised. Doing so requires changing the rules of the game and intervening where market dynamics undermine the public interest. It requires regulation to protect residents from speculation and ensure that cities remain places to live, not merely places to invest.

In Barcelona, we have acted accordingly. We have implemented rent regulation measures that have contributed to containing and gradually reducing average rental prices, helping to ease pressure on thousands of households. We have also decided to eliminate short-term tourist rentals by 2028, returning approximately 10,000 homes to their primary purpose: providing housing for residents. These measures are not ideological gestures. They are practical responses to a growing crisis that affects the social and economic sustainability of our city.

Yet the housing challenge cannot be solved by cities alone.

The actions taken at the local level must be matched by ambition at the national and European levels. Important progress has been made. The recently published Affordable Housing Act represents a significant step forward and reflects a growing recognition within the European Union that housing affordability has become a strategic challenge. The fact that the EU is beginning to address issues such as the proliferation of short-term rentals is both unprecedented and welcome.

However, this is only the beginning.

Europe must move faster and act at a scale that matches the urgency of the crisis. The negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework offer a unique opportunity to do so. They provide a chance to equip cities with the resources needed to build more affordable homes, accelerate the renovation of existing housing stock and strengthen the public infrastructure on which quality of life depends. It is an opportunity that Europe cannot afford to miss.

When institutions fail to respond to people’s everyday concerns, there are political consequences.

We are already witnessing growing frustration across many European countries. Citizens who feel excluded from the prosperity generated by our economies are increasingly questioning whether public institutions are capable of delivering on their most basic promises. Access to decent housing is not a secondary issue. It lies at the heart of social mobility, economic opportunity and democratic legitimacy. Governments that ignore this reality do so at their own peril.

Europe is facing a defining moment. Across the continent, the social fabric that has long sustained our democracies is under increasing strain. In many cities, middle-income households are finding themselves priced out of neighbourhoods they have inhabited for generations. Young people are postponing life projects because housing costs have become overwhelming. Entire communities are being reshaped by dynamics over which they feel they have little control.

This is why action is needed now.

Cities are already leading the way, testing solutions and implementing policies that can make a tangible difference in people’s lives. But cities cannot carry this responsibility alone. National governments, European institutions and local authorities must work together to place affordability at the centre of the political agenda.

The future of our cities, the strength of our democracies and the credibility of the European social model depend on our ability to ensure that everyone has access to a place they can truly call home.

Photo credits: Alex Youroukelis/Shutterstock.com