Barcelona City Council will hire more staff to tackle significant delays in registering people without a fixed address. Mayor Jaume Collboni’s administration spearheads this initiative, aiming to speed up residency verification, a crucial step for accessing essential public services.

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At the heart of the issue lies the empadronament, the official process of registering on the city’s census, or Padró municipal d’habitants. This registration acts as a gateway to healthcare, social aid, and education, making it a vital lifeline, especially for the city’s most vulnerable residents. For the approximately 50,000 people registered without a permanent home in Barcelona, delays in this system can create insurmountable barriers.

Tackling the Verification Backlog

To address the backlog, the City Council has opened a tender to contract approximately ten new field workers, known as visualitzadors or verifiers. According to the city’s public procurement portal, the contract is budgeted at €2.46 million. Their primary task will be to produce ‘Residency Knowledge Reports’ (informes de coneixement de residència, ICR), which confirm an individual’s effective residence in the city.

Municipal sources explained to the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that the verification process for individuals without a fixed abode follows two paths. The first involves a social worker who can confirm a person’s whereabouts through professional follow-up or a site visit. This is the more straightforward route.

The second, more complex method becomes necessary if a person’s location is unknown. This then triggers the need for an ICR, a process which places a heavy burden on the administration. Staff often make multiple visits to locate individuals living on the street, leading to the current delays. The new hires will specifically bolster this capacity.

Improving Communication with a New SMS System

Additionally, the City Council is focused on improving communication, alongside streamlining verification. As Betevé first reported, a new system will notify individuals via SMS when they have correspondence to collect.

Currently, people registered without a fixed address use social service centres or other municipal facilities as their official mailing addresses. Under the new plan, for which a tender of €2,250 has already been awarded, these centres will compile a monthly list of received mail. A contracted company will then send an SMS alert on the first working day of each month, ensuring people are promptly informed.

A Broader Context of Social Support

This administrative reform emerges at a time of heightened focus on social services and integration in Barcelona. The city continues to grapple with the complexities of supporting its homeless population and integrating newcomers. The challenges are multifaceted, extending beyond housing to include bureaucratic hurdles for documentation and access to support networks. For instance, the city recently had to find an emergency replacement to manage its immigration service (SAIER) after the previous provider ceased operations.

Furthermore, the difficulties in navigating the residency system are a recurring theme. In a recent high-profile case, a court granted residency to a Gambian man after ruling that an age test used to deny him was flawed. These initiatives to streamline the empadronament are a targeted effort to reduce such friction points within the system, providing a more efficient and humane process for those who depend on it most.