Three out of every four Barcelona residents - 74.6% - are in favour of taking tougher measures against squatters in the city. This is one of the conclusions of the survey prepared by the Feedback Institute for ElNacional.cat with the municipal elections just a few days away. The survey measures the opinion of citizens on eight issues that are key in the agenda of the electoral campaign, and among them, the phenomenon of illegal squatting in homes and other buildings, which has recently led to episodes of serious tension in the city, specifically in the uptown neighbourhood of La Bonanova. The pre-electoral poll, consisting of 600 interviews, was carried out between 15th and 18th May, in the first week of the campaign which will close this Friday at midnight.
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The opinion of respondents on whether the measures against squatters in Barcelona should be toughened is overwhelming, with 74.6% declaring that they generally agree and 17.3% that they generally disagree, while 8.1% don't know. In fact, this opinion is in the majority even among the 2019 voters of BComú, party of the mayor Ada Colau, with 65.7% in agreement. The agreement reaches 74.3% among JxCat voters and 90.6% for those who voted PSC in the last Barcelona municipal elections. At the same time, the survey question also found broad consensus among residents on several other issues: 71.2% of Barcelonans said they were opposed to the Colau government's star measure of urban planning, the superblocks. On the other hand, on the issue of whether the city needs more luxury hotels, a clear majority - 69.8% of residents - said that in general they disagreed, a view which puts them in accordance with the current mayor's policies.
What do Barcelona residents think about current issues affecting the city? (Translations and responses are below)
Respondents were presented with 8 statements and were given the options of "In general, I agree" (green in the graph), "In general, I disagree" (red), or "Don't know". As mentioned, the first statement was 1️⃣ "Measures against squatters in Barcelona should be toughened". Result: Agree 74.6%, Disagree 17.3%, Don't Know 8.1%.
Nor does the Colau government get off the hook when it comes to managing the bad behaviour of some residents and visitors. Statement 2️⃣: "The Barcelona city council is too lenient with incivic behaviour and crime" prompted 69.2% to generally agree, while 27.1% do not share this perception and 3 .7% don't know. An affirmative view is even given by 53.1% of those who voted BComú in 2019 and 54.5% who voted ERC. And percentages in favour are higher than 80% among voters of Cs, Junts and the PSC.
Next, 3️⃣ "That the tramway connection must be made between Verdaguer and Francesc Macià" also showed broad agreement, this time in favour of BComú's approach. 58% of respondents generally agree, while 33.2% generally disagree. 8.7% don't know. The majority of voters who opted in 2019 for BComú, JxCat, Cs and the PSC are in favour of completing the Diagonal tram line.
Despite the discontent of Barcelona residents over a range of urban issues, the following statement found that a majority consider that 4️⃣ "It is better to live in Barcelona than in Madrid", to be precise, 57.6% of respondents assert that it is better to live in the Catalan capital than the Spanish one. Only 13.2% believe the opposite. However, a significant 29.8% admit that they don't know.
Over 53% think Colau is the city's major problem
The next statement was another which showed the strong feelings among residents over their mayor's performance: in response to the statement that 5️⃣ "The city's main problem is the management by the Ada Colau government" also attracted a clear majority of people who generally agree: 53.6% thus see Colau as the big problem. On the other hand, a significant minority - 43.4% - disagree.
Nevertheless, the largest plurality - 46.0% of those surveyed - are, like their mayor, opposed to the idea that 6️⃣ "Barcelona needs to expand its airport". This is an issue that has caused wide controversy at three levels of government, not only at Barcelona municipal level but also among the Spanish government partners and with the Catalan government. The survey faithfully captures this division of opinion, since 46.0% are against the expansion, but 43.1% are in favour, while 10.9% have no position. The 2019 voters who are most against it are those from BComú (86.1%) while those most in favour are those from Junts (86.3%). Barcelona is not clear of its view on this question.
Clearer support for Ada Colau, is found in the responses the assertion that 7️⃣ "Barcelona needs more luxury hotels" - on which 69.8% of respondents generally disagree, with 22.9% believing that more should be created and 7.4% in the don't know category. Only in the PP is there a majority in support of this statement.
Finally, more crashingly bad news for the mayor over the creation of the city's pedestrianized superblocks, one of the star measures of the Colau government. 8️⃣ "In Barcelona more superblocks have to be created" is an idea that the current mayor is committed to - she wants to create 20 more. But 71.2% of respondents generally disagree with that idea, and only 22.1% agree, with 6.7% not committed. Opposition to the policy is strong among 2019 voters for ERC (73.5%), Junts (71.8%) and the PSC (67.9%). On the other hand, those of the CUP (51.5%) and BComú (49.2%) are in favor of expanding them, although not by very clear majorities.
Survey technical details: Study area: Barcelona. Universe: population agred 18 and over registered as Barcelona residents and entitled to vote in elections to the Barcelona city council. Method: telephone survey with a combination of landlines (70%) and cellphones (30%). Sample: 600 interviews. Quotas: according to three variables: age and sex structure, and city districts. Total possible margin of error: +-4.08% with a confidence level of 95.5%, where K=2 and the assumption of maximum indeterminacy (p=q=50/50). Field work: surveys conducted between Monday 15th and Thursday 18th May 2023.