Sant Just Desvern, a quiet municipality in the Baix Llobregat county near Barcelona, recently gained a new title: the wealthiest town in Catalonia. Yet, in a region grappling with a severe housing crisis, its mayor has revealed another, more surprising distinction: Sant Just boasts the highest percentage of public housing in Catalonia.
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In a recent interview with Metrópoli Abierta, Mayor Joan Basagañas i Camps detailed how the affluent suburb has cultivated a substantial stock of affordable homes, a stark contrast to its high property prices.
“We are the municipality with the highest percentage of officially protected housing (VPO) in Catalonia, at 15%,” Basagañas stated. “When nobody else was building protected housing, Sant Just had already started.”
He explained that this commitment dates back to the late 1980s. “It’s true that at that time, it wasn’t the problem it is today, but the leaders then anticipated this situation.” The town currently has 1,102 VPO units, with plans for 234 more. In addition, Basagañas noted there are over a hundred social flats not included in the official VPO count.
The proactive stance of Sant Just offers a different model to the housing strategies seen in the Catalan capital, where the city council is enforcing a law mandating that 30% of new developments be reserved for affordable housing, a policy recently upheld by Spain’s Supreme Court.
Balancing Growth and Green Space
This long-term focus on social housing has occurred alongside significant urban growth that has reshaped the town. Originally a collection of farmhouses and a summer retreat for wealthy Barcelona families, Sant Just’s identity began to shift in the 1970s with the construction of the iconic Walden 7 apartment complex.
“In recent years we have had significant urban growth that has forced us to resize our network of facilities and infrastructure, with very substantial investment efforts,” Basagañas said. However, he acknowledged that space is now limited. “We are exhausting the last spaces where we can grow, but the truth is, where we can, we do.”
Crucially, this growth is constrained by a commitment to preserving nature. Nearly half of the municipality’s territory is protected natural land, integrated into the vast Serra de Collserola Natural Park that forms Barcelona’s green lung.
“We can have peace of mind that almost 50% of our municipal area is natural space; therefore, practically half the territory is preserved from urban development,” the mayor explained. He credited complex agreements made at the beginning of the century for safeguarding the landscape.
The result is a strategy of building more compact, sustainable architecture within the existing urban core. This approach is exemplified by the new Miravern development, a project of 500 to 600 homes being built on land that was originally zoned for development in a protected valley. Through agreements with landowners, the building rights were transferred to the town centre.
An Evolving Identity
The town’s evolution continues. Once seen by some as a ‘dormitory town’ for Barcelona, Basagañas argues that image is fading. An influx of young families and a “very significant” growth in the expatriate community have added new life. The proximity of several international schools, including the American School of Barcelona and the German School of Barcelona on its border with Esplugues, has made it a magnet for international residents.
“There are people who have little involvement, and others with children who have integrated very quickly, especially through sports clubs,” he observed.
This influx puts pressure not only on housing but also on public services and security. The mayor, who took office during the complex aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, says the administration has learned to manage crises, from floods to public health scares. Regarding crime, he maintains that Sant Just is a safe municipality, but vigilance is key.
“We have very good indicators, especially if we compare ourselves with the southern metropolitan region,” he said, citing an expansion of the local police force to meet EU ratios, the pioneering use of licence plate-reading cameras to monitor vehicles entering the town, and a future plan to install more public security cameras. He also noted that, like other municipalities, Sant Just is affected by multi-recidivist offenders, arguing that faster judicial sentencing is essential to tackling the problem.
As mayors across Europe, including those of Barcelona and Lisbon, urge the EU for greater action on housing, Sant Just Desvern presents a curious case study: a town of immense wealth that, through decades of foresight, has built a social housing stock that is, by percentage, the most robust in Catalonia.
