The short version: Barcelona City Council, CCOO and UGT have agreed a programme to promote 1,500 protected public homes over 10 years using the right-of-surface model on municipal land. The first three plots are intended for 179 homes — 47 in Bon Pastor, 97 in La Clota and 35 in Trinitat Nova — and the city says those plots will be ceded before the end of 2026. Allocation is through Barcelona’s official protected-housing applicant register, not union membership.

Barcelona has added another route to its public-housing pipeline: a decade-long agreement with the city’s two main trade unions to promote 1,500 protected homes on public land.

The agreement brings together Barcelona City Council, CCOO and UGT. The homes are planned under the dret de superfície, or right-of-surface, model. In simple terms, the land remains publicly owned while the successful applicant receives a long-term, legally documented right to use the home.

For residents, the most useful part of the announcement is that the programme is not only a distant 1,500-home headline. The first three municipal sites have been identified, with a combined capacity of 179 homes. The city says the land for those first projects is due to be ceded before the end of 2026.

1. What has been agreed

UGT Catalunya published the agreement on 14 September, saying the city and the two unions intend to promote 1,500 public homes progressively over the next 10 years. CCOO confirmed the convention the following day, describing it as a 10-year programme for 1,500 protected homes.

The unions are not being given a private pool of flats for members. The official UGT account says every home will be allocated through Barcelona’s Registre de Sol·licitants d’Habitatge de Protecció Oficial de Barcelona — the city’s protected-housing applicant register — using the same kind of public, notarised lottery safeguards used for other public-housing allocations.

The social housing promoters will be selected through a joint City Council–union allocation mechanism similar to Barcelona’s existing ESAL model. That structure is intended to keep the projects in the social and protected-housing system rather than turn the municipal plots into ordinary private development land.

2. Where the first 179 homes are planned

The first phase identifies three municipal plots in three different parts of the city:

  • Bon Pastor, Sant Andreu: Passeig de l’Havana, 10 — 47 homes.
  • La Clota, Horta-Guinardó: Passatge del Marquès de Castellbell, 1–5 — 97 homes.
  • Trinitat Nova, Nou Barris: Carrer de Palamós, 62 — 35 homes.

Together, those sites account for 179 homes. UGT says the city expects to cede the three plots for construction before the end of 2026. That is different from saying 179 completed homes will be ready this year. Planning, design, financing, construction and allocation still have to follow.

Timing reality check: the confirmed 2026 milestone is the planned cession of the three municipal plots. We are not describing the 179 homes as completed, move-in ready or guaranteed to begin construction on a particular date unless the project authorities publish that timetable.

3. What a 75-year surface right means

The agreement uses a 75-year right-of-surface model. UGT describes it as a form of cession that sits between conventional buying and renting: the resident obtains a long-term right over the home through a public deed, while the underlying land stays in public ownership.

That matters because the model is designed to provide much more stability than a short tenancy without permanently selling off the public land. The public sector keeps the land asset, while the household can have a long-duration home and a legally defined right that can support financing under the protected-housing rules.

It is not the same as buying an unrestricted private apartment on the open market. The price, eligibility, transfer conditions and future use remain governed by the protected-housing and surface-right framework.

4. Who can apply

The programme is aimed at people registered for protected housing in Barcelona. The homes are to be drawn among eligible people on the RSHPOB register.

You do not need to be a CCOO or UGT member to enter the public allocation process. betevé’s reporting on the agreement explicitly notes that union affiliation is not a requirement. The unions’ role is in the agreement, promotion mechanism and outreach — not in creating a members-only housing list.

Actual eligibility will still depend on the protected-housing rules applying to each future call. Residents interested in the programme should therefore keep their official housing-register information current and rely on the published call when a specific project opens, rather than assuming today’s announcement is itself an application window.

5. What happens before the end of 2026

The immediate promise is about land. UGT says the city will cede the first three plots before the end of 2026. The remaining homes are expected to be added progressively over the following decade as more public land becomes available.

The official statement points to future public land in areas including the new Sagrera development around the Prim sector and developing parts of La Marina as places where a significant share of later homes could be integrated.

That means the 1,500 total is a programme target spread over 10 years, not a single 1,500-unit estate and not a promise that all locations are already fixed.

6. What the current price example means

UGT’s announcement gives a current example of approximately €173,320 plus expenses for a 70 m² protected home in right of surface, based on the Generalitat’s current protected-housing price rules.

That number is useful for understanding the model, but it should not be treated as a guaranteed future sale price for every one of the 1,500 homes. Final prices depend on the applicable protected-housing rules, size, project costs and the conditions published for each development.

Anyone making a real borrowing or housing decision should wait for the project-specific call, financial terms and official price before treating an illustrative figure as a budget.

7. What 1,500 homes can — and cannot — change

For Barcelona’s housing shortage, 1,500 homes over a decade is meaningful but not a complete solution. The importance of the deal is partly structural: it brings additional social-housing promoters and organised labour into a public-land pipeline while keeping the underlying land public.

For residents, the test will be delivery — how quickly the first 179 move from land cession into construction, when applications open, how later sites are added and whether the 10-year target survives political, financing and construction delays.

The agreement should therefore be read as a new public-housing supply channel, not as 1,500 keys already ready to hand out. The first concrete milestone to watch is the cession of the three named plots before year-end.

8. Sources & verification

How we know

We used UGT’s detailed account of the agreement for the 1,500-home total, 10-year horizon, 75-year surface right, protected-housing register, first three sites, 179-home count and current 70 m² price example. CCOO independently confirms the 1,500-home/10-year convention. betevé corroborates the first neighbourhoods and clarifies that union membership is not required. We distinguish the promised 2026 land cession from later construction and completion because the published sources do not give a finished-home date.