Badalona has confirmed the death of a 60-year-old man living in his car, marking the fifth homeless person to die in the coastal city since the beginning of 2026. This tragic news has intensified calls from social organisations for structural reforms to address the growing homelessness crisis.

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On 15 February, the Badalona City Council announced via the social media platform X that authorities discovered the man’s body. He was found inside a vehicle in the Puigfred neighbourhood, an area near the border with the neighbouring municipality of Santa Coloma de Gramenet, where he was officially a resident.

According to the council’s statement, the deceased was a Spanish national and had a judicial restraining order against him related to a resident of Badalona. While Catalonia’s regional police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, have not officially confirmed the man’s housing status, local neighbours told the news outlet Metrópoli they believed he was living in the car.

An Alarming Trend

This latest death marks a grim milestone for Badalona, a city of over 220,000 people just north of Barcelona. The man is the fifth person without a permanent home to have died in the municipality in just over two months.

The first death occurred on 6 January during a cold wave. Another person died on 21 February, followed by two more on a single day, 4 March. Authorities found one of those victims in Plaça d’Elisa Reverter, and the other in the Bufalà neighbourhood.

The escalating number of deaths has drawn sharp criticism from charities and campaign groups, who argue that emergency measures are insufficient and that the local government is not doing enough. “Five deaths is unacceptable,” Carles Sagués of the organisation Badalona Acull told La Vanguardia, adding that what is most worrying “is the attitude maintained by the municipal government,” which he says has refused to reopen a local shelter.

Calls for Structural Solutions

Beatriz Fernández, director of Arrels Fundació, a leading Barcelona-based organisation supporting the homeless, described the figure as “impactful.” She cautioned that these are only the known deaths, suggesting the true number could be higher and thus demonstrating an increase in vulnerable individuals.

Fernández insists that the response must go beyond emergency aid to provide “structural” solutions. She pointed to a citizen-led legislative proposal on homelessness currently being considered by the Parliament of Catalonia. The proposed law, supported by entities like Cáritas, aims to establish a legal framework to guarantee the right to housing and eradicate homelessness.

Campaigners argue that such a law would create a more effective and humane system. Fernández highlighted that some homeless individuals reject help from social services, a fact sometimes used to justify inaction. She called this a “very perverse” argument, explaining that refusal often occurs because the available services are not adapted to their complex needs.

The situation in Badalona reflects a wider, complex issue across the metropolitan area. The vulnerability of the homeless population is evident in other recent events, including an unsolved stabbing at a homeless camp in the city. Meanwhile, neighbouring Barcelona is attempting new approaches, such as a plan to fast-track residency for rough sleepers to help them access services. Administrative hurdles remain a significant barrier for many, an issue underscored by the recent bust of a fraud ring in Santa Coloma selling fake residency registrations.

As activists and social workers await political action, they fear the death toll on Badalona’s streets will continue to rise. “Let’s not wait for the fifth,” one group pleaded before authorities confirmed this latest death. Now, with the fifth victim officially counted, their calls for change have become more urgent than ever.