The construction of new construction in Barcelona has been almost paralyzed for months by the refusal of the builders to apply. The builders maintain their fallow promotions on the grounds that the accounts do not come out. And so it will continue after the together of Junts per Catalunya to agree with Mayor Jaume Collboni (PSC) a flexibility of the norm that they have been negotiating for months. The disagreement arrived yesterday at maximum levels with the announcement of Juns that he gets up from the negotiating table because he considers that Collboni does not accept any of his demands ,.
Since the rule entered into force, in 2018, 26 floors have been completed, and the Consistory has granted licenses to build up to 80 more public floors. There are also 50 in process. However, the obligation to reserve 30% of surface for social floors has sunk the new construction. The rule was agreed in 2018 with the support of the Socialists and Juns in addition to the Commons and ERC. But.
In recent months, paralysis has been accentuated because the builders considered that it was worth waiting for the 30%measure to be more flexible. With the clogging of the commons first and, now, of Junts, nothing indicates that the situation will improve.
“We put six proposals on the table to agree to flexible,” says Junts, and criticizes that none of them have been treated. The president of the Municipal Group of Junts Per Barcelona, Jordi Martí Galbis, said Tuesday that “the negotiations are broken” at the moment.
Martí Galbis has defended that the decision is a consequence of Collboni’s inability to rise when negotiating an agreement and “to the municipal government’s refusal to try to get to approaches” in the measures proposed by Junts in February to deal with the crisis of access to housing in the city. Among those proposals was to reduce by 4% of the Real Estate Tax (IBI) in 2026. The municipal team had started negotiating the IBI reduction, although in a lower percentage than that required together and provided that the collection is compensated with an increase in the tourist rate.
The president of Juntsxbarcelona, the most numerous municipal group for having won the municipal ones in 2023, has committed that if in 2027 the city governs “in a few days, it will approve the flexibility of the 30 % reserve for official housing” and stressed that, despite the current refusal, Juns does not say “not to the reserve of 30 %”.
. “We will not make an eternal debate, we have discussed for two years and we have discussed enough. If before August 1 there is no agreement, the issue will not be reopened until 2028,” he said. The municipal government will not announce until today what position will adopt from now on the 30% policy.
Although the bet of the socialist government was to agree this measure with Junts, the rest of the groups do not support Collboni’s proposal, although for very diverse reasons. In the press conferences convened to announce the initiatives that lead to plenary this Friday, the rest of the opposition groups yesterday reiterated their positions on the negotiation of the 30%reform.
The common ones, who last week made public who rejected the proposal made by the municipal government, insisted yesterday that for the measure to “work better” what is needed is “stand firm”, as Paris has done, which applies similar regulations.
For their part, Esquerra said they do not have conversations with the Municipal Executive about the reform of the 30%reserve standard. In this regard, the president of the PP Group, Daniel Sirera, expressed his satisfaction because the negotiations between the municipal government and together have been broken to modify the reserve of 30%, an obligation that the popular want to completely and not only delete partially as it defends together.
