Annual monitoring
aanndd evaluation report on the
aanndd 2030 Agenda
and Barcelona
Voluntary Local
Review 2022
Title: Annual monitoring and evaluation report on the Barcelona 2030 Agen-
da (Voluntary Local Review 2022)
Contents and editing: © Barcelona City Council
Idea and coordination: Technical Programming Office (Office of the Com-
missioner of the 2030 Agenda)
Photographs by: © Barcelona City Council
Electronic edition, January 2023
Published by: © Barcelona City Council
Design and layout: Editorial MIC 
The content of this publication is subject to an Attribution-NonCommer-
cial (BY-NC) licence for non-commercial purposes. Reproduction, dis-
tribution and public communication of the original work is permitted, as 
is the creation of derivative works, such as translations, summaries and 
children’s versions. Commercial use of the original work is not permitted, 
nor any possible derivative works. The full licence may be consulted at: 
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.ca
Presentation 4 SDG 12: Responsible production 
and consumption 102
1. Introduction 5
SDG 13: Climate action 110
1.1. An agenda that moves forward 
amidst crisis 5 SDG 14: Life below water 116
1.2. Logic and contents of the 2022 report 6 SDG 15: Life on land 122
2. Status of the SDGs in Barcelona 9 SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions 128
SDG 1: End poverty in all of its forms SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals 136
everywhere 10
3. Proposals for a prioritisation model for 
SDG 2: End hunger, achieve food security Barcelona’s 2030 Agenda targets 145
and improved nutrition, and promote 
sustainable agriculture 18 3.1 Justification and scope of the work 146
SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote 3.2 Methodology 146
well-being for all at all ages 24
3.2.1 Analysis of the distance (with 
SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable respect to the 2030 target) 147
quality education and promote lifelong 
opportunities for all 36 3.2.2 Impact capacity analysis 147
SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and 3.2.3 Integration of the “distance 
empower all women and girls 44 to the 2030 target” and “impact 
capacity” criteria: Analysis of results 
SDG 6: Ensure availability and sustainable and conclusions 151
management of water and sanitation for all 50
4. Conclusions and perspectives 155
SDG 7: Ensure access to affordable, 
reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all 58 4.1 On the results of the monitoring 
indicators 156
SDG 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and 
sustainable economic growth, full and 4.2 On the construction and 
productive employment and decent work for all 64 development of Barcelona’s 2030 Agenda 156
SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure 74 Appendix: Report on promotion and 
communication actions 159
SDG 10: Reduced inequalities 80
4.3 Barcelona 2030 Agenda Awards 
SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities 90 (1st edition) 162
PRESENTATION
further aggravated by the war in Ukraine. Yet cities re-
main at the epicentre of the major social, environmen-
tal and economic challenges we face globally.
Certainly, the current context is complex, but the 
direction of the path laid out by the Sustainable Devel-
opment Goals is very clear, and this is what has guided 
our action during 2022, as you will see on the follow-
ing pages of the 2022 Annual Report on the monitoring 
and evaluation of Barcelona’s 2030 Agenda.
We want to move towards a city that is more inclu-
sive, healthy, dynamic and committed to human 
rights, global sustainability and solidarity. For this we 
need a transparent and efficient administration, with 
The 2030 Agenda was approved in 2015 and the ma- a vocation for service and transformation. This is the 
jority of local councils and administrations promoted path to 2030 that we will continue to work on from the 
programmes to develop the Sustainable Development city government.
Goals in the current term of office, which began in 
2019. Many things have changed in recent years. First Laia Bonet Rull
there was the pandemic and then the energy crisis, 3rd Deputy Mayor at Barcelona City Council
on the implementation of the SDGs in Barcelona. It out-
lines the landscape in which the action is to take place.
Against a backdrop of changes and shocks, the 2030 
Agenda has urged us to establish medium- and long-
term outlooks, which are absolutely necessary to ad-
dress the most pressing challenges of this century, 
such as inequalities, climate change, the energy transi-
tion and digital transformation. The City Council already 
has plans and projects with a 2030 horizon for most 
sectors. There are seven years left in which Barcelona 
will have to speed up and scale up action to make them 
a reality, along with challenges set by Europe, such as 
the 100 Carbon Neutral and Smart Cities Mission. 
We will only achieve this if we strengthen what works 
and prioritise those sectors where the city is not mak-
ing sufficient progress. And in the spirit of SDG 17 
(“Partnerships for Action”), we must also learn to work 
better towards common goals, overcoming the differ-
The year 2023 will mark the mid-point of the validity of ences between departments and between administra-
the SDGs (2016-2030). We are therefore entering a year tions, and engage in ongoing dialogue with citizens, 
of evaluation and reflection of the 2030 Agenda, which businesses and the third sector.
will culminate in September in a summit of the United 
Nations. This 2022 monitoring report provides us with a Bàrbara Pons Giner
more data-driven basis for our reflections and decisions Commissioner for the Barcelona 2030 Agenda.
4
1.
Introduction
2020. Barcelona undertook its responsibility 
1.1 An agenda that moves for the SDGs with its own approach, which 
forward amidst crisis encourages transparency, reflection, 
experimentation and innovation.
In mid-2018, Barcelona City Council took 
on the challenge of localising the 2030 Measure 1.3. of the Strategy is the 
Agenda.  The report on localising the 2030 so-called “localisation” of the 2030 Agen-
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in da, which essentially consisted of defining 
Barcelona, presented in March 2019, provided a “Barcelona target” for each of the SDG 
a systematic approach to the issue and laid targets that are considered localisable. The 
the foundations for a possible municipal policy first criterion was to incorporate the targets 
for the 2030 Agenda. During the 2019-2023 already planned into municipal strategies 
term of office, the new municipal government and action plans, as long as they were con-
explicitly included the 2030 Agenda among its sistent with the SDGs, and to convert the 
missions and on 30 September 2019 all the Barcelona Sustainability Indicators into 
municipal groups approved a declaration in targets. In sectoral areas where there 
favour of promoting the 2030 Agenda. With were no formalised targets, these were 
the appointment of a Commissioner and based on the interpretation of planning 
the design of a strategy with a medium and documents and examples proposed 
long-term vision, it was presented to the Full by reference institutions. The initial pro-
Meeting of the Municipal Council in January posals were contrasted and improved 
5
through dialogue with the areas involved and Barcelona City Council had to change its plans 
the various support areas. The final result of (starting with the 2020-2023 Municipal Action 
this work is the Barcelona Sustainable Future Plan) to adapt them to the new circumstances. 
report, which includes a comprehensive local- During this time, we have acted with determina-
isation proposal for the 2030 Agenda, based tion, and we have also learned lessons, many of 
on 139 SDG targets and 220 key indicators for which have been set documented (as we will see 
monitoring them. One year later, the 2021 volun- throughout the document) and which we hope will 
tary local review updated the data to show the improve the city’s capacity to respond to the pos-
progress of each indicator and set out the ef- sibility of a new health crisis. 
forts made by Barcelona City Council to move 
forward on the different SDGs. It should be not- 1.2 Logic and contents of the 
ed that the Barcelona 2030 Agenda has its own 2022 report
website, which documents the activities carried 
out in the various fields. The key indicators are As in the two previous editions, the report is es-
available online and their data can be download- sentially structured around the 17 SDGs. Each 
ed, also in graph or table format. The most rele- of these has its own section, which details and 
vant information is available in Catalan, Spanish comments on the progress of the key indica-
and English. tors that were agreed in 2020 to measure the 
degree of achievement of the targets. Some of 
The 2022 voluntary local review is presented the indicators that were outstanding have been 
in a specific context, firstly characterised by completed in this edition, while others have 
a seemingly definitive exit from the health cri- been replaced by indicators for which data 
sis. Secondly, due to the confluence of crises are available. 
generated by other factors: The climate, with 
a drought situation that could become very se- The Municipal Data Office directly or indirectly 
rious in 2023; war, which generates major so- provides much of the information used in the 
cial and economic disruption; and the cost of system of key indicators for the Barcelona 2030 
living, due to the sharp increase in prices for Agenda. The primary data are generated from 
essential products and services (food, energy, statistical records from public and private insti-
housing, etc.). These crises are interrelated, tutions and also from surveys and opinion polls. 
but the patterns of their evolution are difficult to The Barcelona City Council’s Sociological Stud-
predict. The fact is that, as the recent Barcelo- ies Plan incorporates a series of surveys, such 
na Metròpolis monograph shows, uncertainties as the Municipal Services Survey, the Socio-de-
about the future are growing. mographic Survey and the Social Values Sur-
vey, which provide solid, highly granular data 
Both the 2022 Sustainable Development Goals on the most important issues in municipal poli-
Report and the 2022 Sustainable Develop- cy and management. The number of indicators 
ment Europe Report (Addressing the SDGs: available at neighbourhood level is still quite 
Europe’s compass in a multipolar world) note limited, but they are systematically collected in 
that, despite the partial successes of the first products such as the Neighbourhood Observa-
few years, the road to the SDGs now seems tory. The Barcelona Public Health Agency pub-
to be stagnating, and in some places has even lishes research on health issues and their social 
regressed. The pandemic was a very hard blow determining factors – including food, environ-
to health, education and economic activity in mental quality, etc. – which is useful in many of 
general. It has also exacerbated inequalities, the SDGs.
especially where no protection or compensa-
tion mechanisms have been provided. Despite the improvements, it is important to 
point out the limitations of this work. The indica-
Barcelona is also coming out of two long years tors come from many different sources and the 
of the effects of Covid with significant im- methodologies used and the frequency at which 
pacts, which can be felt in collective life and they are updated are also diverse. For example, 
which have also left a mark on many of the in- it is common for economic indicators, which 
dicators. Some of these have already recov- normally come from registers, to arrive earlier 
ered the situation and/or the trend they were and with greater frequency and precision than 
showing in 2019. Others, for better or worse, social indicators. Furthermore, many indicators 
show no signs of returning to the pre-pandemic are not comparable, because Barcelona gener-
situation. ates data that other cities and territories do not 
6
have. Therefore, a new feature of this edition is the executed budget, while those of the approved 
the inclusion of indicators which, although they budget are used for 2022, as the final amount will 
were not part of the original list, allow Barcelona not be available until February-March 2023. 
to be compared with its main territorial areas of 
reference (Catalonia, Spain, European Union). If A graph of the trend in investment expenditure 
a comparative view of Barcelona with other cities (essentially, expenditure on the acquisition or 
is required, publications such as the Barcelona construction of things that are expected to last 
Observatory or the Index of Urban Quality of Life more than one year: buildings, infrastructure, 
in Europe are available. vehicles, furniture and computer equipment, 
etc.) between 2020 and 2023, which is the pe-
In the first instance, despite having more than riod of validity of the current PIM (Municipal 
200 indicators, the social reality is much too Investment Plan).
complex to be described solely with numerical 
data. In-depth knowledge requires more. That is Overall, in addition to fulfilling the commitment 
why each SDG and the vast majority of the doc- to transparency, the intention is to highlight the 
uments contain references and links to directly knowledge generated about social problems, 
access all the relevant documents that the City public policies and municipal management, so 
Council has published on the subject in ques- that it can be used optimally to improve Barcelo-
tion over the last two years (or even longer in na’s governance, along the lines recommended 
some cases). These are documents on diagno- by experts1. 
sis (studies, articles), planning (strategies, plans, 
programmes) and accountability (reports, evalu- Another new feature of the report is the addi-
ations) drawn up over the last two years by the tion of the conclusions of joint research car-
sectoral departments of Barcelona City Council. ried out with the Spanish Network for Sustain-
In the case of the districts, in order to make it able Development to establish a prioritisation 
manageable, only the most relevant documents model for the SDG targets. This responds to 
have been included. a demand repeatedly voiced within the aca-
demic and social world, in the sense that the 
Practically all the links provided refer to the BCN. 2030 Agenda encompasses many things and it 
ROC Barcelona Open Knowledge Repository, is difficult to establish priorities for action and 
an essential tool for finding out about and docu- evaluation among such extensive and diverse 
menting the City Council’s activities. Apart from contingents. The model we are presenting is 
concentrating the historical collation of munici- based on a set of criteria (distance to the tar-
pal activity – conceived in a broad sense – into get, strategic relevance, budgetary effort and 
a single portal, another great advantage of BCN. responsibility) in order to determine what is 
ROC is that, unlike what happens with many oth- most relevant to the 2030 Agenda for the Bar-
er institutional websites, the links it provides are celona of today in a more objective way. In any 
simple and stable over time. Once stored there, event, the proposal is the basis for a debate 
it will always be possible to locate and download that will have to include the participation of all 
the document. the actors involved. 
The information on municipal action is completed The final part of the report is firstly devoted to a re-
with the budget alignment data, which have been view of the specific promotion and innovation ac-
processed by the Directorate of Budgets and Tax tion for the 2030 Agenda carried out by the Com-
Policy and the Management Office for Budgets mission, and secondly, to put forward conclusions 
and Taxation. The information is presented in two and work proposals for 2023.
different graphs:
A graph of the trend in current expenditure 
(essentially, expenditure on own staff and on goods 
and services necessary to sustain the production of 
municipal services, as well as the payment of social 
benefits and subsidies) between 2020 and 2022. 
The figures used for 2020 and 2021 are those of 
1 Magre Ferran, Jaume: “Perspectives for the future of the special regime of Barcelona”, in: The Barcelona Municipal Charter and 
the right to the city. Basis for its promotion and updating, directed by Tomàs Font i Llovet, Barcelona City Council, 2022 (pp. 337-365).
7
8
2.
Status of 
the SDGs 
in Barcelona
9
SDG1 no
poverty
End poverty in 
all of its forms,  
everywhere
The reference document for municipal this area. Beyond the management reports, 
policies against poverty and exclusion is it is highly recommended to take a look at 
the 2017-2027 Strategy for Inclusion and the more in-depth evaluation studies that 
Reduction of Social Inequalities, which in have been carried out to estimate the social 
2020 was updated to 2030 and provided impacts of new programmes, such as the 
with new targets, in line with the SDGs. Also Fons 0-16 or the B-Mincome programme. 
very relevant, due to the growing incidence There are also several recent studies that 
of poverty in these sectors of the population, allow us to deepen our understanding of 
are the 2021-2030 Children’s Plan (chal- SDG 1 as applied to Barcelona. The mag-
lenges and actions to improve the lives and azine Barcelona Societat published a mon-
rights of children and adolescents in Barce- ograph on the social impact of Covid. The 
lona), and the 2016-2024 Strategy against FOESSA 2022 Report, with data from 2021, 
the feminisation of poverty and precarious- invites us to analyse poverty and exclu-
ness in Barcelona. The 2021 Report of the sion in post-Pandemic society, using the 
Social Rights, Global Justice, Feminism and Diocese of Barcelona as the territory to 
LGBTI Area details the work carried out in be analysed.
Targets and indicators for Barcelona In parallel, the Barcelona Support Network for the 
Homeless (XAPSLL) has increased its resources 
for housing by 82% since 2008 (Diagnosis 2019). 
Thanks to this effort, the percentage homeless 
people attended by the XAPSLL has gradually 
increased year by year, reaching 55.2%, although 
there has been a parallel increase in the number 
1.1 Every Barcelona  of homeless people. In order to reach the target 
resident who becomes  of 100% of people receiving assistance, it will 
be necessary to act on the economic and social 
homeless will have a bed to factors that cause people to find themselves 
sleep in and food on the table, homeless, as well as to continue increasing 
and the number of  the resources allocated to people who find 
themselves in this situation.
homeless people will be 
significantly reduced Homelessness in Barcelona has been the sub-
ject of numerous studies, the most recent of 
As in other large European cities, Barcelona has which is a comprehensive report by the city’s 
seen a considerable increase in the number of Ombudsman. Also noteworthy is the report 
homeless people in recent decades. Over the on the impact of housing insecurity and en-
course of the last six years, there has been an ergy poverty on health. In terms of action, the 
increase of 44.4%, from 2,799 people without 2016-2020 Barcelona Plan to Combat Home-
a home to 4,042. The health and social emer- lessness continues to be the basic point of 
gency caused by Covid-19 has led to a consid- reference for understanding the municipal ap-
erable increase in the number of people living proach to homelessness. The report offers 
on the streets or in substandard housing, a fact a fresh look at homelessness, which it sees as 
which, for the time being, makes it impossible a violation of people’s right to housing (which 
to reduce the phenomenon of homelessness to is why it must be read in conjunction with the 
a minimum. 2016-2025 Right to Housing Plan). The 
Graph 1: Homeless people
Indicator 1.1.1: People attended by the Barcelona Support Network for the Homeless (XAPSLL). (Right axis)
Indicator 1.1.2: Reduce the number of homeless Barcelona residents to below 500
5,000 100.0% Inadequate housing 
4,564 100.0% (Structures 
4,500 90.0% temporary or 
404
4,042 unconventional
4,000 340 80.0%
3,684 Insecure housing 
915 (without paying 
3,500 3,383 498 575 70.0% rent)
2,799 415
60.0% homeless living 
3,000 438 562 1,658 temporarily in a 
434 hostel or 
2,500 55.2% 50.0% accommodation 
49.9% support sustained
2,000 424 46.3% 43.2% 40.0%
44.6% Homeless people 
1,500 1,303 1,350 1,982 30.0% (in public space or 
996 spending the night 
in a hostel)
1,000 20.0%
1,587 500 Percentage assisted 
1,227 1,286
500 945 1,145 10.0% (spending the night 
in a Living 
0 0.0% temporarily in a 
hostel temporarily 
015 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
2 201 201 201 201 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 203 accommodation with 
sustained support 
Accommodation
Source: Area of Social Rights.
11
driving principles of the plan are the per- 1.2 Greatly reduce the incidence 
son-centred model, structural prevention and of severe poverty, especially 
attention to situations of female homeless-
ness. In order to develop this first point, in among younger people, while 
2020 a Government measure for the pre- also ensuring that it does 
vention of female homelessness and the 
introduction of a gender perspective in the care not disproportionately affect 
of homeless people was approved. certain areas
Graph 2: Severe material deprivation
Indicator 1.2.1a: Less than 2% for the population of Barcelona as a whole (calculated according to Barcelona threshold)
Indicator 1.2.1b: Less than 2% for the Barcelona population aged 0 to 15 (calculated according to Barcelona threshold)
Indicator 1.2.1c: Less than 3% for the population of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (BMA) (calculated according to BMA threshold)
14.0%
12.9%
12.0%
10.0% 9.9%
Barcelona [Barcelona
8.0% 7.5% Metropolitan Area]
6.7% BMA
6.0% 5.3% 6.3%
4.9% Barcelona (0-15 years)
4.6%
4.0% 4.5%
4.8% 4.5% 4.7%
3.0%
2.0% 2.0%
2.0%
0.0%
-176 7-1
8
8-1
9 -20 21 22 23 24 5 6 7 8 9 0
1 1 1 9 0 0 0 0 02 02 02 02 02 03
20 20 20 20
1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Source: IERMB. Survey on living conditions.
Graph 3: Severe material deprivation (territorial comparison)
10.0%
7.9%
8.0%
7.5%
6.5%
5.7% 7.0%
6.0% 5.8% 6.2% Barcelona
5.5% 6.1% 6.3% Catalonia
5.4% 5.5%
4.7% Spain
4.0% 4.8% 4.5% 4.7% EU-27
2.0%
0.0%
2017 2018 2019 2020
Note: The data for Barcelona are calculated by combining samples from two consecutive years; 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020.
Source: IERMB and Idescat. Survey on Living Conditions.
12
It is currently considered that material deprivation2 1.3 Ensure that the Minimum 
is the phenomenon that best reflects and allows Living Income is available to 
poverty to be measured. Graphs 2 and 3 show that 
the percentage of the population suffering from se- everyone who needs it
vere material deprivation soared throughout 2020, 
mainly due to the effects of the health crisis. In This target refers to a benefit financed by the 
Barcelona, the material deprivation rate has risen Central Government. The indicator is not yet 
to 7.5%, 2.7% more than four years ago (4.8%). available at city level. In the FOESSA Report on 
Unfortunately, we still do not have the results for Exclusion and Social Development in the Diocese of 
2021 for Barcelona, although the advanced data Barcelona (results of the 2021 survey on Integration 
for Catalonia as a whole (7.3%) indicate that the and social needs) states that in September 2021 
situation still shows no signs of improvement. there were a total of 42,173 people benefiting from 
Therefore, the target of not exceeding 2% of the the MLI (Minimum Living Income) in the province of 
population living in severe material deprivation is Barcelona. As for the Guaranteed Citizen Income, 
still far from being achieved. Of particular concern a benefit managed by the Government of Catalonia, 
is this indicator in the population under 16 years of in December 2020, 69,401 people in the province of 
age (12.9% for the years 2019-2020). The target Barcelona were receiving this benefit (p. 28).
for 2030 establishes an even stronger reduction in 
the case of the child population, because it is a 1.4 Ensure easy access to 
proven fact that enduring these situations during municipal social services
the first years of life has a very severe impact on a 
person’s life chances. In order to cope with the increase in demand for 
social care, the Municipal Institute of Social Ser-
To learn more about this issue, we recommend vices (IMSS) recruited more than a hundred new 
reading the report Material deprivation in Barcelona professionals to the teams in 2021 (95 more to the 
(2019). Social Services Centres, 25 more to the Children 
Graph 4: Access to the municipal social services
Indicator 1.4.1: Average waiting time of less than 15 days for a first visit to the municipal social services
40.0
35.0
30.0
28.5 25.0
25.0
20.0 22.9
22.2
20.4
15.0
12.4 15.0
10.0
10.9
5.0
0.0
5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
201 201 201 201 201 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 203
Source: Area of Social Rights.
2 Material deprivation is defined as the inability to access goods that are considered essential for living in society due to a lack 
of economic resources. Households suffering from material deprivation are considered to be those where there is a forced lack 
of at least four out of the following nine elements: Paying expenses related to housing or to deferred purchases without falling 
into arrears; able to go on holiday for at least one week a year; able to make a meal with meat, chicken or fish (or the vegetarian 
equivalent) at least once every two days; able to cope with unforeseen expenses; able to afford a telephone (including a mobile 
phone); able to keep the home at a reasonable temperature; able to afford to own the following consumer items: A colour TV, 
a washing machine and a car. The target sets out a firmer commitment in the case of children, because it is a proven fact that 
when a person suffers from these situations during the first years of their life, it has a very severe effect on their life opportunities.
13
Graph 5: Access to basic utilities (territorial comparison)
Indicator: % of people who have suffered fallen into arrears in the payment of bills or receipts for basic utilities
(electricity, water, gas, etc.) in the last 12 months.
14.0% 12.4%
12.0% 12.2%
10.0% 8.8% 8.8%
7.8% 9.9% Barcelona
8.0% 9.1%
Catalonia
7.6% 8.2%
6.0% 7.5%
8.0% Spain
4.0% 4.9%
2.0%
0.0%
2017 2018 2019 2020
Note: The data for Barcelona are calculated by combining samples from two consecutive years; 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020.
Source: IERMB and INE. Survey on Living Conditions.
and Adolescent Care Teams and 3 more to the experienced between 2017 and 2019 came 
Care, Recovery and Shelter Service), with the to a halt. Similar to what happened in Catalo-
support of the Generalitat. This reinforcement, nia and Spain as a whole, bill payment delays 
together with the broadening of online and pro- soared, with the number of people affected 
fessional assistance, has led to a notable re- almost doubling.
duction in the average waiting time for the first 
assistance, down to 12.4 days, which is clear- 1.5 Reduce the exposure of the 
ly below the target set by the 2030 deadline most vulnerable people to crisis 
(15 days).
and disaster situations, as well 
If we focus on basic services, it can be seen as increase their resilience to 
that in 2020, the peak of the pandemic’s im-
pact, the positive trend that Barcelona had deal with them
Graph 6: Assistance to people in situations of urgency or social emergencies
Indicator 1.5.1: Less than 10,000 persons assisted by the Social Emergencies Centre (CUESB)
40,000 Number of persons 
assisted by the 
34,488
35,000 Centre for Urgent 
28,994 and Emergency 
30,000 28,348 28,237 Social Care 
27,414
27,817 (CUESB)
25,000
People assisted in 
20,000 22,340 social interaction 
(collective risks, 
15,000 calamities or 
10,000 extraordinary 
10,000 catastrophes that 
affect people and 
5,000 2,986 2,301 groups that pose 
2,080 1,505 1,496 1,353 1,668 a risk to their 
emotional 
0 well-being)
015 016 107 018 019 020 021 022 023 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 202 202 202 202 202 202 203
Source: Area of Social Rights.
14
The Social Emergencies Centre complements the social emergency were attended, 23.3% more 
work of the social services centres and provides than in 2020.
assistance to people in a situation of risk or so-
cial emergency, such as loss of housing, lack of Beyond the reactive services, it is necessary to 
resources for food, abuse due to gender-based mention programmes that address social resil-
violence and elder neglect. In 2021, 34,488 emer- ience in a strategic and preventive manner. The 
gencies were attended (with 35,584 people seen), Barcelona Neighbourhood Plan does so from 
compared to 27,817 emergencies (and 25,148 different perspectives (support for education, 
people) in 2020. This increase is linked to the so- community action, etc.).
cial emergency caused by the pandemic, as well 
as to a greater number of home assessments 1.a Develop the international 
and a significant increase in telephone consul- cooperation of cities in reducing 
tations. Furthermore, the Social Emergencies 
Service attends to people affected by a critical poverty
incident (such as a fatal road traffic accident, a 
home, a suicide, a fire, a landslide or a very ad- See SDG 17, target 2.
verse weather conditions), who need immediate 
psychosocial care, including short-term accom-
modation. In 2021, 1,668 people experiencing a 
15
Budgetary effort indicators
The budgetary effort indicators show a sta- expenditure has increased over the course of the 
ble trend in current expenditure, at around 5%, term of office. It should be borne in mind that 
with higher figures in the budgets for 2020 and a  substantial part of social expenditure is in-
2021 due to the extra resources earmarked to cluded in other SDGs, especially SDG 10 on 
combat the effects of the pandemic. Investment reducing inequalities.
Current expenditure on SDG 1
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
200 7.0%
180
5.5% 5.4% 6.0%
160
4.7%
140 5.0%
120 4.0%
100
80 3.0%
60 127.8 126.8 117.4 2.0%
40
1.0%
20
0 0.0%
BA 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 1
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
60 5.0%
50 3.9%
4.0%
40 2.3%
3.0%
30
1.8% 53.3
1.6% 2.0%
20
0.8% 29.3
1.0%
10
9.2 12.3
0 2.5 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
16
17
SDG2 zero
hunger
End hunger, achieve food 
security and improved 
nutrition, zaernod promote 
hunger
sustainable agriculture
In 2021, Barcelona was named Food Capi- gets in the city. Within the framework of this 
tal of the Year, which was a great success. event, studies analysing the situation of the 
One of the results of the reflections and work food system in Barcelona were carried out 
carried out there is the 2030 Healthy and and published, and Barcelona Metròpolis 
Sustainable Food Strategy, which will guide devoted a monograph to exploring the new 
the action on this SDG and its various tar- food model.
18
Targets and indicators for Barcelona 2.2 Reduce the prevalence 
2.1 Ensure that no one of obesity by 20%, especially 
suffers hunger or malnutrition in children 
in Barcelona The Barcelona 2021 Health Survey shows that 
obesity has increased in Barcelona compared to 
As with material deprivation as a whole, food 2016, especially among men, rising from 13.5% 
deprivation due to lack of economic resources to 16.3%. In the case of women, the increase is 
increased by 1.4 points in 2020 in Barcelona, af- less than one percentage point, meaning that the 
fecting 3.6% of the population. Unfortunately, the prevalence remains at 14.%. As no annual data 
data for 2021 is not yet available. are available, it is not possible to know whether 
these increases were triggered by the pandemic or 
This food emergency has been analysed by the City whether they began beforehand. In any case, they 
Council in a ruling on inequalities and vulnerabilities. are moving in the opposite direction to the target 
In terms of municipal action, resources have been of bringing the obesity rate down to below 11%.
channelled into combating poverty (see SDG 1) in all 
its forms. However, emphasis has also been placed In recent years, a review of school menus in 
on disseminating useful information on healthy and Barcelona has been carried from the perspective 
economical food for families with children. of both health and sustainability. The programme 
Graph 7: Prevalence of food deprivation
Indicator 2.1.1: Reduce to below 0.5% the percentage of the population that cannot afford a meal of meat,
poultry or fish, or a vegetarian equivalent, every two days.
7.0%
Barcelona Catalonia Spain
6.0%
5.4%
5.0% 4.7%
3.8%
4.0% 3.7% 3.6%
3.6%
3.9%
4.0%
3.0% 3.9%
2.2%
1.8% 1.9%
2.0% 2.4%
1.0% 1.8%
0.5%
0.0%
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
Source: IERMB and Idescat. Survey on Living Conditions.
Graph 8: Prevalence of obesity
Indicator 2.2.1: Obesity prevalence rate of less than 11.0% in the adult population
20.0%
% Men with obesity % Women with obesity % Population with obesity
19.0%
18.0%
17.0% 16.3%
16.0%
15.3%
15.0%
14.0% 13.6%
14.4%
13.0% 13.5%
12.0% 13.5%
11.0%
11.0%
10.0%
016 017 018 019 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
2 2 2 2 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 203
.
Source: Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB). Barcelona Health Survey
19
has been evaluated in this report. Another Urban allotments have consolidated their pres-
noteworthy municipal action in this area is the ence in the urban fabric of Barcelona and have 
Childhood Obesity Prevention Programme, progressively increased in number, even in a con-
the evaluation of which has confirmed the text of overcoming the 2008-2013 property crisis 
effectiveness of its approach. Publications such and increasing pressure on land. This indicates 
as “Mou-te i  menja bé” [Get moving and eat considerable social interest in this practice, which 
well] reflect this commitment to information and is fully aligned with climate change mitigation and 
awareness-raising on such a fundamental issue adaptation strategies.
for children’s health.
The city of Barcelona has implemented the 
2.3 Promote urban 2019-2030 Urban Agriculture Strategy and has 
agriculture, showcasing its an Observatory that publishes information on 
these practices and the distribution of the Urban 
economic, ecological and Allotment Network. Guidelines have also been 
social benefits published to promote biodiversity through urban 
Graph 8bis: Urban allotments
Indicator 2.3.1: Number of urban allotments in the city of Barcelona
700
600
515 539
500 484
450
400
300
200
100
0
2018 2019 2020 2021
Note: 2030 target pending definition.
Source: Area of Urban Ecology. Climate Plan.
20
allotments, as these areas can establish sym- the data for Catalonia, which we assume can 
biotic relationships with certain species of flora be reasonably extrapolated to Barcelona, do 
and fauna. not show the desired trend in terms of achiev-
ing a healthier and more environmentally 
2.4 Promote resilient local, sustainable diet. In 2021, the total consump-
ecological agricultural tion of meat per person was 47 kilograms, 
which represents a slight decrease compared to 
production through the retail and 2018 (48.5). So there is still a long way to go 
wholesale commercial network if we want to bring this consumption into line 
and promote the adoption of the with the recommendations of the sustainable 
planetary diet.
Planetary Health Diet
2.a Develop international city 
The launch in 2021 of the “green stallholders” cooperation in the area of urban 
model as part of the city’s Green Commerce 
strategy has been very successful, with a par- agriculture and food
ticipation rate of 56%. As far as meat con-
sumption in the adult population is concerned, See SDG 17, target 2.
Graph 9: Green trade and meat consumption
Indicator 2.4.1: Maintain the proportion of stalls in municipal markets classified as “green stalls” between 50% and 60%.
Indicator 2.4.4: Meat consumption (Kg/year) in the adult population below 16 Kg (indicator for Catalonia as a whole)
100.0 100.0%
90.0 90.0%
80.0 80.0%
70.0 70.0%
60.0 56.0% 60.0%
50-60%
50.0 50.0%
48.5 51.9
47.7 47.0
40.0 40.0%
30.0 30.0%
20.0 16.0 20.0%
10.0 10.0%
0.0 0.0%
018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 029 030
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Note: The data on meat consumption refer to the whole population of Catalonia. Data for Barcelona are not available.
Source 2.4.1: Barcelona Municipal Institute of Markets.
Source 2.4.4: Ministry for Consumer Affairs.
21
Budgetary effort indicators
The budgetary alignment indicators show a sta- combat the effects of the pandemic. The investment 
ble trend in current expenditure of around 1%, expenditure in this SDG is not very significant, 
with higher figures in the budgets for 2020 and because the City Council does not have resources 
2021, due to the extra resources earmarked to dedicated exclusively to food.
Current expenditure on SDG 2
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
25 1.5%
24 1.3%
23
1.1%
22 0.9% 0.9%
21 0.8% 0.9%
20 0.7%
19 0.5%
18
20.1 20.3 0.3%
17 18.7
16 0.1%
15 -0.1%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 2
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
2 0.3%
0.3%
0.2%
0.2%
1 0.2%
0.1%
1.1
0.0% 0.0%
0.6 0.0% 0.1%
0.3 0.0 0.0%
0 0.1 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
22
23
SDG3 health
and well-being
Ensure healthy lives and 
promote well-being  
for all at ahlela altghes
and well-being
The annual Barcelona Health Report, comple- The 2021-2025 Health Plan for the Barcelo-
mented by reports such as Mortality in the city na Health Region (Barcelona city area) is the 
of Barcelona, provides a very accurate picture framework that guides public action for health, 
of the state of health of the Barcelona popula- coordinated through the Barcelona Health and 
tion. Every five years, the overview is complet- is coordinated by the Barcelona Health Con-
ed with the Barcelona Health Survey, which sortium (joint action between the Government 
provides information based above all on peo- of Catalonia and the Barcelona City Council). 
ple’s perceptions and practices in relation to The municipal health policies follow a decid-
health and illness. edly social and territorial approach.
Targets and indicators for Barcelona The premature mortality rate in children under 
5  years of age has shown little change over 
3.1 Achieve a maternal mortality the last five years and stands at 43.4 deaths 
rate that is very close to zero per 100,000 inhabitants. It remains to be seen 
whether in the coming years there will be a sus-
In 2018 and 2019, not a single woman died in Bar- tained reduction that will enable the 2030 target 
celona as a result of childbirth, which highlights to be met.
the importance of having quality health systems 
with universal access. In relation to neonatal mortality, despite the rise in 
the latest available data (from 2019) to 2.5 deaths 
3.2 End preventable deaths of per 1,000 live births, if we look at the entire statis-
newborns and children under tical series, it remains at very low levels and close 
5 years of age to the 2030 target.
Graph 10: Maternal mortality rate
Indicator 3.1.1: Maternal mortality rate below 0.1 per 1,000 births
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.6
0.5
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.0 0.0
0.0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
Source: Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB). Mortality Register.
Graph 11: Child and neonatal mortality
Indicator 3.2.1: Premature mortality rate in children under the age of 5 to below 35 per 100,000
Indicator 3.2.2: Neonatal mortality rate below 1 per 1,000
50.0
44.7 44.3
45.0 43.4
2.7
40.0 37.7 2.5
35.0
35.0
2.2
30.0 31.5
25.0
1.7
20.0
1.4 1.4
15.0 1.2
10.0 1 1.2
5.0 1.0
0.0 0.7
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
Note: The neonatal mortality rate is calculated as the number of deaths of infants under 28 days of age per 1,000 live births.
Source: Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB). Mortality Register.
25
3.3 Reduce the effects of 
infectious diseases by half
Graph 12: Effects of infectious diseases
Indicator 3.3.2: HIV rate per 100,000 inhabitants and per age between 15 and 64 years of less than 30 in men and 3 in women.
Indicator 3.3.3: Tuberculosis rate per 100,000 inhabitants of less than 12 in men and 8 in women
Indicator 3.3.4: Gonorrhoea rate per 100,000 inhabitants of less than 200 in men and 20 in women
70.0
65.3 504.3 500.0
60.0 58.5 HIV men
59.5 61.4
HIV women
50.0 400.0
Tuberculosis in men:
40.0 350.5 355.9
300.0 Tuberculosis in women:
40.8
30.0 273.0
30.0 Gonorrhoea in men:
23.7 30.3
20.5 21.4
19.2 24.1 21.4 200.0 (Right axis)
20.5
20.0 200.0
13.0 Gonorrhoea in women:
12.2 12.4 12.5 12.9 18.5
9.1 12.0 12.0100.0 (Right axis)
10.0
39.8 54.5 49.5 56.3 8.0
7.6 20.0
0.0 4.5 3.8 4.9 3.30 3.4 2.7 3.0
0.0
5
201 2016 107
2 2018
2019 020 021
2 2 2022
2023
2024 5
202 2026
2027
2028 9 0
202 203
Source: Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB).
In 2021, 326 new HIV infections were detected, The ASPB regularly publishes information on 
169 of which were in people living in the city, a the situation of the main infectious diseases in 
decrease of 29.5% compared to 2020. HIV inci- Barcelona and on the action being taken to erad-
dence per 100,000 inhabitants was 2.7 in wom- icate them. This is the case of the reports AIDS in 
en and 18.5 in men. The trend of this indicator is Barcelona: epidemiological surveillance and 
very favourable in relation to the achievement of Tuberculosis in Barcelona.
the 2030 target for both men and women.
3.4 Reduce premature 
In contrast to HIV, the incidence of tuberculo- mortality by one third and the 
sis is decreasing much more slowly. 378 cas-
es were detected in 2021, 248 of which were prevalence of psychological 
people living in the city, representing an inci- pathologies by half and take a 
dence of 20.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 
the case of men and 12.0 cases in the case of more active role in promoting 
women. Compared to 2020, the incidence of health
the disease has increased by 25% in women 
and decreased by 9% in men. At this slow rate After five years of a favourable trend in 
of reduction, it will be difficult to achieve the premature mortality rates, the excess mortality 
2030 target. associated with Covid-19 caused a notable 
worsening in 2020 (to 2,934.6 in men and 
With regard to gonococcus, both the trend and 1,670.1 in women). That same year, 19,738 
the latest data for the indicator are very nega- deaths were recorded (10,538 women and 
tive and urgent action is required if the target 9,200 men), an increase of 33.5% for women 
set for 2030 is to be met. In 2021, there were and 30.9% for men compared to 2019. The 
4,462 reported cases of gonococcus, of which data from the 2021 Health Survey also show 
10.9% were women, 88.9% were men and a sharp deterioration in mental health, which 
0.2% were transgender people. The incidence affects considerably more women (where the 
was 269.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (56.3 incidence of psychological distress has risen 
in women and 504.3 in men), an increase of from 19.9% to 31.4%) than men (from 16.5% 
13.7% in women and 42.0% in men. to 21.6%).
26
Graph 13: Premature mortality, mental health and well-being
Indicator 3.4.1a: Reduce the premature mortality rate in men by 40% (potential years of life lost between 1 and 70 years per 100,000 Deaths)
Indicator 3.4.1b: Reduce the premature mortality rate in women by 25% (potential years of life lost between 1 and 70 years per 100,000 Deaths)
Indicator 3.4.2: Reduce the prevalence of psychological distress in men and women to below 14% (above 3 points on the General Health
Questionnaire, GHQ-12)
Indicator 3.4.3: Increase sports practice to above 80% among men and women
3,500.0 90.0%
3,250.1 Men: Premature mortality
3,155.8
3,013.5 80% rate
3,000.0 74.4% 2,841.5 2,934.6 80.0%
2,733.8 Women: Premature mortality
69.0% 70.0% rate
2,500.0 69.2%
64.2% 60.0% Men: Prevalence of poor 
mental health or risk of 
2,000.0 1,893.5
1,694.7 50.0% psychological distress
1,602.0 1,435.8
1,500.0 1,271.040.0% Women: Prevalence of 
1,552.2 1,499.6 1,670.1 poor mental health or risk 
30.0% of psychological distress
1,000.0 19.9% 31.4%
21.6% 14.0% 20.0% Men: Level of sports
500.0 practice
16.5% 10.0%
Women: Level of sports
0.0 0.0% practice
2015 016 017 018 019
2 2 2 2 2020
2021 022 023 024
2 2 2 2025 6 7
202 202 2028
2029 030
2
Source 3.4.1: Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB). Mortality Register.
Source 3.4.2: Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB). Barcelona Health Survey.
Source 3.4.3: Barcelona Sport and Physical Activity Observatory. Barcelona Sporting Habits Survey
The 2016-2022 Barcelona Mental Health Plan mental health in a comprehensive and collabora-
laid the foundations for a municipal policy in this tive manner”.
area. The detection of the mental health emergen-
cy unleashed by Covid led to the approval of the Up until 2019, the increase in life expectancy 
Government Measure Mental Health Action Plan, was widespread and of similar intensity all over 
which led to the roll-out of a series of measures the world. In the case of Barcelona, from 2015 
and projects. Children and young people have to 2019 life expectancy increased by one year, 
been the main target groups of this Action Plan. from 83.9 to 84.9 years. This is almost one year 
Studies such as Health and its determining factors more than in Catalonia and Spain as a whole, and 
in adolescents in Barcelona (FRESC) and “Screens 3.6 years more than in the European Union as a 
and emotional health in adolescents in Barcelona” whole. The differences by sex have remained sta-
have allowed us to quantify and understand all the ble in the city throughout this period (in 2019, life 
facets of the problem. The issue of mental health expectancy was 87.5 years for women and 81.8 
at work has also been addressed, through the years for men). There is still no data available that 
“Shared city strategy to foster a framework which allows us to know the effects of the pandemic on 
includes the prevention, promotion and care of this indicator.
Graph 14: Life expectancy at birth. (territorial comparative)
86.0
85.0 84.4
83.9 84.2 84.9
83.9
84.0 84.0 Barcelona
83.0 83.2 83.6 83.6
83.5 Catalonia
83.5 83.5
82.0 83.0 83.4 Spain
EU-27
81.0
81.3
80.0 80.5 80.9 80.9 81.0
79.0 Source: Catalonia: Idescat; 
78.0 Department of Health.
Source: Spain and the
77.0 European Union: Eurostat. 
Source: Barcelona: Barcelona 
76.0 Public Health Agency (ASPB).
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
27
Graph 15: Health status (territorial comparison)
Indicator: % of population who rate their health as good or very good
85.0%
79.2% 78.9%
80.0% 77.1%
79.0%
75.0% 77.0% 78.1% 76.8% 73.1%
74.2% 73.7% 75.3%
73.0%
70.0% 71.2%
69.0% 68.6% 69.5%
65.0% 68.6%
60.0%
55.0%
50.0%
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Barcelona Catalonia Spain EU-27
Source: Catalonia and Barcelona: Idescat and (IERMB); Survey of living conditions.
Source: Spain and the European Union: Eurostat.
Since 2020, there has been a worsening in the out with a territorial focus, through programmes 
subjective perception of the population’s state of such as Barcelona health in the neighbourhoods, 
health, both in Catalonia and in Spain. In the city and in schools. Health is also promoted through 
of Barcelona in 2020, the decline was more gradu- a good diet (see Target 2.2), with the Food Health 
al. The percentage of the population who consider Quality Research Programme (IQSA by its initials 
their health to be good or very good was 77.1%, in Catalan) and the dissemination of the quality of 
down only 1.8% on the previous year. organic food. And also through sport, as stated in 
the 2012-2022 Barcelona Strategic Plan for Sport.
Preventive actions are being carried out to improve 
the state of health, such as the Breast Cancer Early 3.5 Reduce the harmful 
Detection Programme, as well as awareness-rais- consumption of alcohol and 
ing actions, which are very diverse in terms of sub- cannabis, especially among 
ject matter and target groups. These are carried young people
Graph 16: Harmful alcohol and cannabis consumption
Indicator 3.5.1: Reduce the harmful consumption of alcohol in adults by one third
Indicator 3.5.2: Reduce the harmful consumption of cannabis among adults by one third
Indicator 3.5.3: Reduce the harmful consumption of alcohol in young people by 50%
Indicator 3.5.4a: Reduce the harmful consumption of cannabis in teenage boys by 50%
Indicator 3.5.4b: Reduce the harmful consumption of cannabis in teenage girls by 50%
25.0%
22.0% Total alcohol consumption
among population
20.0%
Alcohol consumption among
population aged 15 to 24
15.0% 13.4% Cannabis consumption
among total population
Cannabis consumption
10.0% 10.8% among teenage boys
6.5%
6.0% 6.4% 6.7% Cannabis consumption
among teenage girls
5.0% 4.3%
4.2% 5.2% 3.8%
3.6% 3.7% 3.0%
1.8%
0.0%
016 018 019 020 021 022 023 024
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2025 6
202 2027 8 9 0
202 202 203
Note: The harmful consumption of alcohol is understood to be the intake of 17 or more units of consumption (SDU) in women and 8 or more in men, or 5.
Source: Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB).
28
Harmful alcohol consumption by the population 3.6 Drastically reduce the 
as a whole increased considerably between 2016 number of deaths and injuries 
and 2019, from 6.5% to 10.8%; but it is among 
young people aged 15 to 24 that it has increased from road traffic accidents 
worryingly, reaching 22.0%. As for cannabis use, 
its harmful use is also increasing in the population The number of people killed and seriously 
as a whole, rising from 4.2% in 2016 to 6.4% in injured in road traffic accidents in Barcelona 
2021. Among the adolescent population, howev- experienced a significant decrease in 2020, 
er, it has remained fairly stable (down from 6.0% associated with the forced reduction in mobility 
to 5.2% among boys and up by a tenth, to 3.7%, due to the pandemic. In 2021 this positive trend 
among adolescent girls). continued, especially in terms of fatalities. 
Unfortunately, the partial data for 2022 do not 
The 2021-2024 Barcelona Action Plan on Drugs and indicate a consolidation of these declines. Quite 
Addictions lays out the actions to prevent and re- the contrary, by November 2022, there had 
duce the use of addictive substances and practices. already been 23 fatalities in accidents.
Graph 17: Road traffic accident victims
Indicator 3.6.1: Less than 12 fatalities in road traffic accidents
Indicator 3.6.2: Less than 120 people seriously injured in traffic accidents
250 241
236
199 202
200
192 166
150
141 120
100
50
27 28 12 21 22 14 12 12
0
015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 029 030
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Source: The OMD’s Department of Statistics and Dissemination of Data.
Graph 18: Road traffic fatalities (territorial comparison)
Indicator: Number of fatalities per road traffic collision (rates per 100,000 inhabitants).
6.0 5.5 5.3 5.2 5.2 5.1
5.0
4.3
3.9 3.9 3.9 4.0
4.0
3.8 3.8 3.9
3.6 3.7
3.0 Barcelona
2.6 Catalonia
Spain
2.0 1.7 1.7 EU-27
1.3 1.3
1.0 0.7 0.9
0.0
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Source: Catalonia: Idescat. Catalan Department of Home Affairs. Catalan Traffic Service. Source: Spain and the European Union: Eurostat.
Source: Barcelona: The OMD’s Department of Statistics and Dissemination of Data.
29
Since 2015, the number of traffic fatalities per Corts, stood at 19.1, still well above the target for 
100,000 inhabitants has remained very stable, 2030. 
with a slight upward trend across all territorial lev-
els. In Barcelona, however, mortality rates are con- Barcelona has a well-established Sexual and Re-
siderably lower than in Catalonia, Spain and the productive Health Strategy, which is reported on 
EU as a whole. every year. An important part of this strategy is the 
dissemination of sexual and reproductive rights, 
The 2019-2022 Local Road Safety Plan sets out linked to health protection.
actions to prevent accidents.
3.8 Halve the number of 
3.7 Reduce the incidence people who do not have 
of teenage pregnancies by access to healthcare 
half, while also narrowing the assistance or treatment 
differences between districts. due to economic reasons
In 2020, there were 436 pregnancies (a rate of 
12.8 per 1,000) in teenage women (aged 15 to The indicator on the lack of health care on eco-
19), 89 fewer than in 2019. Of these, 114 resulted nomic grounds cannot be updated until next year 
in a birth (a rate of 3.3 per 1,000) and 322 ended due to problems with the collection of data in the 
in abortion (a rate of 9.4 per 1,000). Since 2010, Catalan Health Survey. The only value available, 
there has been a steady decline in both situa- that of 2019, shows that more than 10% of Barce-
tions, which represents an accelerated trend to- lona’s population could not access relatively basic 
wards meeting the 2030 target (9.5 pregnancies health treatments not covered by social security 
per 1,000 adolescent girls). The second part of for economic reasons. 
the survey refers to the distribution of fertility in 
adolescent girls, which is not homogeneous in The City Council has acted in a supplementary 
the city and shows a pattern linked to the so- way to alleviate some of these deficits, name-
cio-economic level of the neighbourhoods. In ly in dental care and mental health. But just as 
2020 the difference between the districts with important, if not more so, is the investment to 
the highest and lowest rates, Nou Barris and Les improve the quality of public health care in the city, 
Graph 19: Teenage pregnancies
Indicator 3.7.1: Reduce the rate of pregnancies in girls aged 15 to 19 by 50%
30.00
25.00
20.00
19.07 18.66
15.00 16.74 16.01
15.44
12.80
10.00
9.5
5.00
0.00
015 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2 201 201 201 201 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 2028 029
2 2030
Note: The pregnancy rate in adolescent girls is calculated as the number of pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19.
Source: Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB).
30
through collaboration between the Government 3.9 Drastically reduce the 
of Catalonia, which is responsible for it, and the number of deaths caused by 
City Council, coordinated through the Barcelona 
Health Consortium. excessive pollution
Graph 20: Teenage pregnancies
Indicator 3.7.2: Teenage pregnancy rate (number of pregnancies per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19 years)
by District. 2020
25.00
20.90
20.00
17.90 Difference between district with the highest and
lowest pregnancy rates 2020: 19.10%
15.00
12.70 12.80
Target difference between district with the highest and 11.30
lowest pregnancy rates 2030: 10.65%
10.00 9.50
8.50
7.30
5.20
5.00 4.10
1.80
0.00
Ciutat Vella Eixample Sants-Montjuïc Les Corts Sarrià - Sant Gràcia Horta - Nou Barris Sant Andreu Sant Martí BARCELONA
Gervasi Guinardó
Source: Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB).
Graph 21: Lack of healthcare assistance due to economic reasons
Indicator 3.8.1a: Reduce the lack of access to healthcare for economic reasons by 50% (men)
Indicator 3.8.1b: Reduce the lack of access to healthcare for economic reasons by 50% (women)
14.0% 13.5%
12.0%
10.0% 9.8%
8.0%
6.8%
6.0%
4.9%
4.0%
2.0%
0.0%
019
2 2020 021 022 023 024 025 6 7 8 9 0
2 2 2 2 2 202 202 202 202 203
Note: The indicator is calculated on the population over the age of 15 who, despite needing it, have not had access to the following
health treatments for economic reasons: dental care, mental health and/or prescription medication.
Source: Health Department, Government of Catalonia. Catalan Health Survey.
31
Graph 22: Health and air pollution
Indicator 3.9.1: Estimated number of annual deaths caused by pollution
3,000
2,500
2,000 1,900
1,500
1,000 1,200
500
300
0
9 0
18-1 19-2 2021 022 3 4 5 6 7 8
2 202 202 202 202 202 202 2029
0 0 2030
2 2
Source: Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB). 2021 Health Report.
The Barcelona Public Health Agency performs Barcelona has a programme to tackle smoking 
estimates on the impact of air pollution (par- from a public health perspective.
ticulate matter and nitrogen dioxide) on health. 
Graph 22 shows the estimated number of 3.b. Develop international 
deaths caused by the excess pollution before city cooperation in the area 
the pandemic (2018/2019) and during the pan-
demic (2020/2021). If the fall were to continue of global health research and 
at this rate, the target date for 2030 would be the improvement of Public 
reached much sooner. But this positive trend 
can only be maintained if air pollution levels Health instruments and 
consolidate the improvement experienced in Healthcare Systems
2020. (For more information on this subject, 
see target 11.6). See SDG 17, target 2.
3.a Significantly reduce the habit 3.d Provide Barcelona with 
of smoking a specific emergency plan to 
Data from the Barcelona 2021 Health Survey show tackle pandemic situations
a two-point drop in the percentage of people living 
in Barcelona who smoke daily. However, as can From the outset, the City Council has been com-
be seen in Graph 23, the reduction in this habit is mitted to offering services and resources to deal 
concentrated among men (almost 4 points), while with the new and unforeseen situation in the best 
the smoking rate among women remains practi- possible way. During this time, it has gained in 
cally the same. experience and in innovations – in terms of actions 
and organisational adaptation – that are highly rel-
Graph 24, which shows the sum of daily and oc- evant to the governance of highly complex health 
casional smokers, shows that in all territorial areas and social emergencies. This knowledge has al-
the rate is very similar, between 24% and 25% of ready been codified, and all that remains to be 
the population over 15 years of age. done is to shape it into a plan.
32
Graph 23: Prevalence of smoking
Indicator 3.a.1a: Reduce the % of people over the age of 15 who smoke on a daily basis (men)
by 3 percentage points.
Indicator 3.a.1b: Reduce the % of people over the age of 15 who smoke on a daily basis (women)
by 3 percentage points.
35.0%
30.0%
25.0%
23.7%
20.0%
19.9% 20.7%
15.0% 16.5% 16.3%
13.5%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
016 8 9 0
2 201 201 202 2021
2022 3
202 2024
2025 6 7 8 9 0
202 202 202 202 203
Source: Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB). Barcelona Health Survey.
Graph 24: Prevalence of smoking. (territorial comparative)
30.0%
29.0%
28.0%
27.0% 27.0%
27.0%
26.0% Barcelona
Catalonia
25.0% 25.6% 25.0%
24.0% 24.3% 24.6% Spain
24.6%
24.0% 24.0% EU-27
23.9%
23.0% 22.5%
22.0%
21.0%
20.0%
2017 2018 2019 2020
Note: The indicator is the sum of the percentage of the population aged 15 and over who say they smoke daily and the percentage
who say they smoke but not daily (occasional smokers).
Source: Catalonia and Barcelona: Department of Health. Catalan Health Survey. Source: Spain and the European Union: Eurostat.
33
Budgetary effort indicators
The SDG 3 budgetary effort indicators show a very Meanwhile, investment is growing notably, to the 
stable situation in terms of current expenditure, point that if the Municipal Investment Programme 
which is between EUR 56 and EUR 58 million, (PIM) forecasts are met, it will have tripled by the 
between 2.3% and 2.5% of the total budget. end of the term of office.
Current expenditure on SDG 3
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
64 2.9%
62 2.7%
2.5%
2.4%
60 2.3% 2.5%
58 2.3%
56 2.1%
54 1.9%
56.8 57.9
56.1
52 1.7%
50 1.5%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 3
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
70 5.0%
60
4.0%
50 3.3%
40 2.2% 3.0%
2.3%
30 1.8%
54.5 2.0%
20 1.1%
25.2 1.0%
10 16.7
9.2
0 3.4 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
34
35
SDG4 quality
education
Ensure inclusive and 
equitable quality education 
and promote lifelong 
opportunities for all
These three documents provide the most transversal programmes of the Department of 
complete and up-to-date view of the municipal Culture, Education, Science and Community 
action for education, the Report by the and the Collection of management indicators 
Municipal Institute of Education, the Report on for this same area.
Targets and indicators for Barcelona
4.1 Practically all students 
successfully complete 
compulsory education and with 
a suitable level of skills
Graph 25: Rate of achievement of basic skills at the end of Compulsory
Secondary Education (ESO)
Indicator 4.1.1a: Catalan: basic skills above 95%
Indicator 4.1.1b: Spanish: basic skills above 95%
Indicator 4.1.1c: English: basic skills above 95%
Indicator 4.1.1d: Mathematics: basic skills above 95%
Indicator 4.1.1e: Science and technology: basic skills above 95%
100.0%
95.0%
95.0%
91.4%
90.9% 92.4%
91.5% 90.7% 90.9%
90.2% 90.4% 89.1%
90.0% 90.4% 89.1%
89.4% 90.1% 90.5%
88.9%
87.5% 87.8%
88.0% 88.0% 86.7%
86.9%
86.2% 86.6%
85.0% 85.9% 86.0% 86.2% 85.7%
83.7%
81.7%
80.0%
79.2%
75.0%
70.0%
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 2026-27 2028-29 2029-30 2030-31
Source: Department of Education. High Council for the Evaluation of the Education System.
The academic year 2021-22 shows a decrease (ESO by its initials in Catalan) in the spotlight 
in all results except in science and technology once again.
skills. It fell 5.4 points in Catalan and 1.3 points 
in Spanish, 0.5 points in English and 2.5 points The graduation rate in ESO increased by 2 points (to 
in Mathematics. The start of this negative trend 92.1%) in the last academic year for which we have 
dates back to the 2019-2020 academic year, the data (2019-2020), which is very positive. The gap be-
year of the beginning of the pandemic. It is nec- tween districts also narrowed, with a distance of 17.4 
essary and urgent to reverse the trend in order percentage points, but is above the desired target of 
to be able to place the target of 95% satisfacto- 10% (or less) by 2030. When the data for 2020-2021 
ry achievement in the five basic skills in 4th and are available, it will be necessary to see to what extent 
final year of Compulsory Secondary Education the pandemic has also affected these indicators.
37
Graph 26: Graduation rate at the end of compulsory education
Indicator 4.1.2: Less than a 10% gap between the districts with the highest and lowest graduation rates
100% 25.0% Ciutat Vella
22.6% Eixample
96%
20.1% Sants-Montjuïc
20.0%
18.3% 17.4% Les Corts
92% 16.3%
89.5% 89.5% 90.7% 92.1%
90.0% Sarrià-Sant Gervasi
15.0%
88% Gràcia
Horta-Guinardó
84%
10.0% Nou Barris
10.0%
80% Sant Andreu
5.0% Sant Martí
76% % of graduates in
BARCELONA
72% 0.0% Difference in % between
-16 -17 -18 -19 -20 -21 -22 -23 -24 -25 -26 -27 -29 -30 -31 the district with the highest
015
2 2016
2017 018
2 2019 020 1 2 3
2 202 202 202 2024 025
2 2026 8 9 0
202 202 203 and lowest tax rate
Source: Department of Education. High Council for the Evaluation of the Education System.
4.2 Increase schooling in the 1-3 age group, ensuring that this 
increase focuses especially on the children of families with a low 
socio-economic level
Graph 27: Schooling in the 0-3 age group
Indicator 4.2.1: Get the 1-year-old (P1) school attendance rate to above 60%
Indicator 4.2.2: Get the 2-year-old (P2) school attendance rate to above 80%
Indicator 4.2.3: Reduce the gap between the districts with the highest and lowest P2 school attendance rate to less than 25%
90%
80% 80.0%
68.7% 69.3%
70% 68.3% 69.5%
65.6% 66.9%
61.0% 63.7%
60% 56.5% 59.8% 60.0%
52.6%
50.1% 50.9%
50% 48.5% 50.7% 50.8%
48.4% 49.7% 49.9% 50.3%
40% 44.7%
30%
25.0%
20%
-16
5 6-17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 29 30 31
201 201 2017- - - - - - - - - - - - -
2018
2019 020
2 2021 2
202 2023 024 5 6 8
2 202 202 202 2029
2030
Source: Department of Education. Education statistics.
After the sharp drop in school enrolment rates in The City Council has a Plan for early childhood 
P1 (1-2 age group) and P2 (2-3 age group) during education and care , which promotes universal 
the 2020-21 school year caused by the pandem- access and inclusive education. In addition to 
ic, the 2021-22 school year saw a sharp recovery making progress in the construction of new nurs-
in values, reaching 50.8% in P1 and 66.9% in P2, ery schools, progressively increasing the number 
close to the values expected to reach the target of places available, work has been done on the 
of 60% (P1) and 80% (P2) in 2030. The most neg- early detection and attention of specific educa-
ative aspect shown by the data is the difference tional support needs (NESE) in municipal nurs-
between districts regarding school attendance at ery schools, and a social pricing policy for this 
two years of age. Far from narrowing, this differ- service has been implemented to promote social 
ence has reached its highest during the 2021-22 equity.
academic year, standing at 63.7 points.
38
Graph 28: Population with higher-education qualifications
Indicator 4.3.1: 60% of people aged 30 to 34 with a higher-education qualification (university studies or Advanced
Vocational Training)
70.0%
65.0%
60.0%
60.0%
53.3% 53.8% 55.1%
55.0% 52.5%
49.6% 51.2%
50.0% 47.7%
45.0%
40.0%
35.0%
30.0%
015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 029 030
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Source: Municipal Data Office using information from the Municipal Register of Inhabitants.
Graph 29: Population with post-compulsory education
Indicator 4.4.1: 80% of people aged 20 to 24 with at least a post-compulsory education qualification (Higher secondary school or
Intermediate Vocational training).
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
60.3% 60.7% 61.4% 61.8% 62.1% 61.3% 62.3%
50.0%
40.0%
024 025 026 027
5 6 7 8 9 028 029 030
201 201 201 201 201 2020 021 022 023 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
2 2 2
Source: Municipal Data Office using information from the Municipal Register of Inhabitants.
4.3 More than 60% of young The percentage of people aged between 20 and 
adults with higher qualifications 24 with post-compulsory education (baccalau-
reate or vocational training) is increasing very 
slowly and seems to be stagnating at around 
As can be seen in the graph, the percentage of 62%. It seems unlikely that the target of 80% 
the population aged between 30 and 34 with high- by 2030 will be reached. This indicator, com-
er education qualifications is steadily increasing in bined with that of figure 4.3, points to a growing 
Barcelona, with the data series showing right from polarisation of the Barcelona population in terms 
the beginning higher than expected values in rela- of education. 
tion to meeting the target of 60% by 2030. In 2021, it 
stood at 55.1% of higher education graduates, 1.3% In order to publicise the strategic importance 
more than the previous year. (more information on of vocational training and promote vocations, 
this subject can be found in SDG 9, section 5). diagnostic reports, new trends and training 
needs, linked to vocational training, have been 
4.4 Four out of every five young published in relation to four highly relevant 
sectors: health and social health, 3D printing, 
people will have completed some eco-design (circular economy), commerce and 
type of post-compulsory training catering, and agri-food. 
39
4.5 By 2030, everyone will Knowledge of Spanish, measured on the basis of 
have the same educational the subjective perception of one’s own linguistic 
ability, is practically 100% in the overall population 
opportunities over 17 years of age and for all the years of the 
series. With regard to English, knowledge of the 
The indicator for this target is not yet available. language has increased by 12 points since 2015, 
reaching 56.2% in 2022. Despite the slight set-
It is important to stress that the City Council has back of the last two years, it is heading in the right 
promoted inclusion and equal educational oppor- direction to reach 70.0% by 2030. However, the 
tunities through various programmes and govern- percentage of the population over 17 years of age 
ment measures. The Connexions Programme was who consider that they can speak Catalan has de-
created as a response to the pandemic but has creased by 0.9% compared to the previous year 
been extended beyond it. It consists of the cession and by 2.6% compared to 2015. The objective 
of municipal spaces to expand the space available that everyone should be able to speak Catalonia’s 
to schools, seeking connections with other munic- own language is still a long way off. 
ipal programmes and services. With regard to edu-
cational spaces, there has also been participatory 4.7 Educational and  
work on the criteria for a good school playground: awareness-raising action on 
naturalised, co-educational and community-based. 
The strategy “Towards a policy of afternoons in ed- sustainable development and 
ucating neighbourhoods” aims to promote educa- human rights will be available at 
tional and cultural opportunities for all children and 
adolescents through extracurricular activities. The all education centres
concept of “educating neighbourhoods” aims to 
achieve the expansion of education within the com- The number of schools that have carried out 
munity, promoting the knowledge and coordination environmental education projects within the 
of the different educational and community agents, framework of the More Sustainable Schools (E+S 
the social use of educational centres and the edu- by its initials in Catalan) programme was 358, 
cational function of public space. representing 52% of all schools in the city in the 
2020-21 school year. Growth is relatively stagnant, 
4.6 Most of Barcelona’s but is heading in the right direction. In contrast, the 
population will be able to percentage of pupils who know the rights included 
in the Convention on the Rights of the Child at the 
function in three languages: end of primary school has dropped considerably. 
Catalan, Spanish and English 14.8% fewer pupils claim to know them when they 
Graph 30: Knowledge of languages
Indicator 4.6.1a: 100% of the population over 17 years of age consider that they can speak Catalan
Indicator 4.6.1b: 100% of the population over 17 years of age consider that they can speak Spanish
Indicator 4.6.1c: 70% of the population over 17 years of age consider that they can speak English
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 99.9% 100.0% 100.0%
100.0%
90.0%
80.0% 77.0% 77.0% 75.3%
77.0% 77.0% 74.4%
70.0% 76.0% 75.0% 70.0%
60.0% 57.0% 56.6% 56.2%
51.0%
50.0% 46.0% 48.0%
44.0% 51.0%
40.0%
015 016 017 018 019 020 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
2 2 2 2 2 2 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 203
Source: Municipal Services Survey.
40
Graph 31: Education for sustainable development and human rights
Indicator 4.7.1: 100% of education centres take part in environmental-education projects in the
“More Sustainable Schools” network
Indicator 4.7.2: Over 70% of students understand the Convention on the Rights of the Child when
they finish primary school
Indicator 4.7.3: Maintain the Education for Global Justice projects
100.0%
100% 59
90% 58 58 58
80%
70.0%
70% 57
60% 54.0%
52.1% 56
50% 52.0%
52.6% 55
40% 43.0% 51.5% 55
39.2%
30% 35.6% 36.8% 54
54
20%
53
10%
0% 52
-15 -16 -17 -18 -19 -20 -21 2
4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1-2 2-23 -24
3 4-25
5-26 7 9 0 1
01 01 01 01 01 01 02 02 02 02 02 02 026-2 2 3 3
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2028-
2029-
2030-
Note: Education for global justice projects promote critical education and the promotion of peace, human rights, sustainability
and gender equality.
Source 4.7.1: More Sustainable Barcelona. Barcelona City Council.
Source 4.7.2: Institute for Children and Adolescents. Survey on the Subjective Well-Being of Children in Barcelona.
Source 4.7.3: Global Justice programme report.
finish primary education (39.2% in 2020-21). The 
disruption of the school programme and of leisure 
and cultural activities outdoors, due to the pan-
demic, largely explains this decline. As regards the 
projects presented and funded under the Glob-
al Justice Education Strategy, there were three 
fewer in 2021 than in the previous year; this is an 
insignificant figure for a strategy that has been 
very successful in its deployment.
4.a All children with learning 
difficulties will have access to 
a specialised resource or centre 
to foster their early development
The indicator for this target is not yet available.
4.b Develop international 
cooperation in the area 
of education
See SDG 17, target 2.
41
Budgetary effort indicators
The budgetary effort indicators show a strong It can be seen that investment remains relatively 
stabilisation in current expenditure. It accounts stable in absolute terms, but with decreases to-
for around 10% of total expenditure, although it wards the end of the MIP in relative terms.
should be borne in mind that this SDG accounts 
for most of the expenditure devoted to cultural 
programmes and facilities.
Current expenditure on SDG 4
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
500 11.0%
450 10.6% 10.4%
10.5%
400
9.9%
350
10.0%
300
250 9.5%
200
9.0%
150
246.7 232.7 257.8
100
8.5%
50
0 8.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 4
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
300
19.0%
250 17.2%
17.0%
200
15.0%
150
13.1% 270.8
100 11.4% 13.0%
11.6%
50 68.8 11.0%
54.2 62 85.8
9.1%
0 9.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
42
43
SDG5 gender
equality
Achieve gender equality 
and empower all 
women and girls
Targets and indicators for Barcelona A study has also been carried out on gender justice 
in an emblematic area of Barcelona’s industry, the 
5.1 End all forms of industrial estates on the right bank of the Besòs. 
discrimination and reduce the 
In addition to this, it has included a gender per-
impact on equality spective in many areas of municipal policies such 
as housing, preventing homelessness, sport, cul-
Work is under way to calculate the Gender ture, science, community action, cycling mobility, 
Equality Index synthetic indicator, developed and the design, implementation and management 
by the European Institute for Gender Equal- of public facilities. The drafting of gender impact 
ity, to encompass only Barcelona. The great reports has also become generalised, among 
virtue of this index is that it integrates prac- which the budget report stands out. 
tically all the dimensions of gender inequali-
ty. It is comprised of 31 indicators, grouped 5.2 Eliminate gender violence 
into six core areas (work, resources, knowl- in Barcelona
edge, time, power and health) and two ad-
ditional ones (violence against women and The indicator referring to the prevalence of gen-
intersectional inequalities). The problem is that it der violence cannot be updated until next year, 
is designed to be calculated on a State scale. It coinciding with the publication of the Survey on 
has been possible to do at the level of Catalonia, gender violence in Catalonia for 2021. In relation 
but calculating it at the city level presents insur- to gender violence, it has not been possible to 
mountable difficulties due to the unavailability of reduce the number of homicides due to gender vi-
data for some of the indicators. In any case, the olence in the judicial district of Barcelona.
main indicators available can be found in this 
SDG and in others such as 3 and 8. Barcelona has very firm policies in the fight against 
gender violence. In this mandate, they have been 
The City Council has been very active in the fight updated with the Government measures Forging Al-
against economic gender inequality. The Strat- liances: Barcelona, a city free of gender violence, and 
egy against the feminisation of poverty and job the Guàrdia Urbana against gender violence. The lat-
insecurity in Barcelona: 2016-2024 has been com- ter is a Plan that has the general objective of increas-
pleted and updated by the Government Meas- ing the resources and preparation of the GUB [city 
ure on Feminist Economy (for the improvement police] to improve prevention, detection and care for 
of the economic, social and labour conditions of women victims of gender violence, as well as opti-
the most precarious and feminised occupations). mising the existing resources of the system. 
Graph 32: Gender-based violence
Indicator 5.2.1: Prevalence of gender violence below 5%
Indicator 5.2.2: Number of femicides equal to zero (right axis).
20% 8
18% 7 7 7
7
16% 6 6
6 6
14%
12% 13.8% 5
10% 4
8% 3
3
6% 5.0%
2
4%
2% 1
0
0% 0
015
2 2016 017
2 2018 9
201 2020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 029 030
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Note 5.2.2: Includes the homicides due to violence against women in the judicial district of Barcelona.
Source 5.2.1: Catalan Department of Home Affairs. Survey on gender violence in Catalonia.
Source 5.2.2: General Council of the Judiciary.
45
The trend in this phenomenon was constant- have influenced the significant decline observed 
ly and closely monitored during the pandem- in 2021. 
ic, through reports such as “Gender violence in 
times of Covid-19” and the “Panel on the per- 5.4 Achieve shared responsibility 
ception of gender violence among SARA users in in housework and care work, 
times of Covid-19”. Another issue that has been 
prioritised in the last two years is the prevention, both within families and between 
detection and action in cases of sexual violence families, companies and the 
through activities promoted by the City Council. 
Specifically, protocols have been approved for public administration
municipal music education centres and for sports 
activities for adults. The ambitious target set for 2030 that no one 
should be caring for a person in need of care 
5.3 Develop programmes to alone is well on the way to being achieved, as 
combat the human trafficking in 2021 the percentage of people caring for 
dependants by themselves fell by 2.3% com-
and sexual exploitation pared to 2016 to 5.6%. In contrast, the objec-
of women and girls, and tive of achieving a more balanced distribution 
against gender violence in of household tasks between men and women 
does not seem to be moving in the right direc-
countries receiving Official tion. The latest available data for 2020 shows 
Development Assistance that women spend an average of 48.8% more 
of their time doing housework than men. The 
The Municipal Unit against Human Trafficking pandemic seems to have interrupted the slow 
(UTEH by its initials in Catalan) is a municipal ser- progress that had been achieved between 2015 
vice that tackles and combats human trafficking and 2019.
from a holistic perspective. The main line of action 
is the restitution of human rights that have been The NUST Network (New Social Uses of Time) is 
violated for victims or potential victims of human a local network of companies and organisations 
trafficking who are linked to the city of Barcelona, of different sizes and sectors aimed at promoting 
by offering specialised care. The number of people a work culture and a management of working time 
attended by the service almost tripled in the first that leads to a better balance between the time 
four years of operation. The pandemic, which re- needs of people and the requirements and the 
duced the flow of international mobility, may also competitiveness and productivity needs of the or-
Graph 33: Fight against trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and girls
Indicator 5.3.1: Family units assisted by the Municipal Unit against Human Trafficking (UTEH) victims of sexual exploitation
or human-trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation
500
400
300
277 229
200
209
100 153
109
0
7 8
201 201 2019 020
2 2021
Note: 2030 target pending definition.
Source: Area of Social Rights. Barcelona City Council.
46
Graph 34: Shared responsibility in the home and for care
Indicator 5.4.1: No one will have to look after a dependent person without any support
Indicator 5.4.3: Reduce the gender gap in household chores by half
Indicator 5.4.5: A minimum of 300 companies and organisations must form part of the NUST network
50.0%
44.7% 350
45.0% 48.3% 48.8%
45.3% 45.9%
40.0% 42.9% 300 300
35.0%
250
30.0%
25.0% 200
20.0% 22.6%
150
15.0% 126 133
10.0% 7.9% 100
5.6%
5.0%
0.0% 50
0.0%
0
2015 6
201 2017
2018 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
201 202 202 202 202 202 202 2026 027 8 9 0
2 202 202 203
Source 5.4.1: Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB). Barcelona Health Survey.
Source 5.4.3: Health Department, Government of Catalonia. Catalan Health Survey.
Source 5.4.5: New Social Uses of Time Business Network.
ganisation, promoting changes to move forward in in the City Council’s policy on this issue. In 
this direction. In 2021, a total of 133 companies recent years, new knowledge has been generat-
and organisations were taking part. It is a step for- ed about work related to care, through the Mu-
ward, but progress is nowhere near fast enough to nicipal Omnibus survey and the special dossier 
reach the figure of 300 members by 2030. “The city of care” in the magazine Barcelona 
Metròpolis. There has also been theories about 
The Government Measure for care democratisa- the link between care and time for life in the 
tion continues to be the main point of reference sustainable city.
47
5.5 Break the glass ceiling for 
women in Barcelona, achieving 
parity in political, economic 
and social representation 
and leadership
Graph 35: Parity in representation and leadership posts
Indicator 5.5.1: Number of women in the Full Council: in the Barcelona City Council between 40% and 60%
Indicator 5.5.2: Municipal government and manager’s office posts: in the Barcelona City Council between 40% and 60% Proportion of 
Indicator 5.5.3: Public cultural facilities (municipal or assisted) run by women women in the 
Indicator 5.5.4: Women in decision-making positions in companies: above 40% Full Council of 
Barcelona
80.0% Proportion of women 
in government and 
70.0% management 
68.0%
67.0% positions in the City 
60.0% Council (At start of 
the term of office 
51.4% 2019- 2023)
50.0%
48.78% 48.80% Proportion of women
in decision-making 
40.0% positions in companies 
40.0% (provincial)
30.0% 24.2%
Proportion of 
20.0% public cultural 
015 016 017 018
2 2 2 2 2019 0 1 2
202 202 202 2023
2024
2025 6
202 2027
2028 9
202 2030 facilities 
(municipalities and 
Source 5.5.1 and 5.5.2: Municipal Data Office. consortiums) run 
Source 5.5.3: Barcelona Institute of Culture. by women
Source 5.5.4: The Women, Business and Economy Observatory. Survey on gender equality in companies
The latest available data, both in relation to the 5.b Achieve gender equality in 
political representation of women in the full city the use of ICTs
council and in municipal government posts, show 
how they are distributed in a way that is in line The indicator for this target is not yet available. 
with gender parity. Furthermore, the percentage Work is under way to create a synthetic indica-
of public cultural facilities run by women reached tor, capable of reflecting the different aspects of 
68% in 2021. The “glass ceiling” is much more ev- the gender gap in the digital sphere. The study 
ident when analysing the presence of women in “The digital gap in the city of Barcelona” provides 
decision-making positions in companies (24.2%). an up-to-date look at the issue with robust data. 
It should be noted that this indicator is for the A study of the situation has also been carried out 
province of Barcelona as a whole and has not at Barcelona City Council itself. The most out-
been updated since 2018. It will be necessary to standing municipal action in this area is the Gov-
update it or seek alternatives. ernment Measure BcnFemTech 2021-2023: for 
gender equality in the ICT sector. 
The City Council has an Equal Opportunities Plan 
for women and men, which involves implementing 5.c Implement and update the 
gender equality in the different areas of the organ- regulations and plans for gender 
isation. In another area, it is worth mentioning the 
work done in analysing the Barcelona City Council equality in the City Council
Awards and Distinctions from a gender perspec-
tive, which has served to incorporate this issue The second Gender Justice Plan (2021-2025) is 
into the draft regulations for the “Amendment of currently in force. The first Gender Justice Plan 
the Barcelona City Council Honours and Distinc- (2016-2020) was evaluated in all its areas, specifi-
tions Regulations”. cally in relation to gender mainstreaming.
48
Budgetary effort indicators
The budgetary effort indicators show a great sta- The investment is at a very low level, representing 
bility in current expenditure, which is between 0.2% of the total.
EUR 23 and 24 million (around 1% of the total). 
Current expenditure on SDG 5
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
40
1.4%
35
1.2%
30 1.0% 1.0%
0.9% 1.0%
25
0.8%
20
15 0.6%
23.3 24.5 23.2
10 0.4%
5 0.2%
0 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 5
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
6 1.0%
5 0.8%
4
0.6%
3 4.8
0.4%
2
0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2%
1 0.2%
1.8
1.1 1.9
0
0 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
49
SDG6 clean water
and sanitation
Ensure availability 
and sustainable 
management of water 
and sanitation for all
The annual report “Water consumption in Bar- the situation of this SDG in Barcelona. It con-
celona: use and exploitation of water resourc- tains a huge amount of data and analysis, par-
es” is the source of reference for understanding ticularly on the water balance and water supply.
50
Targets and indicators for Barcelona 6.2 Ensure that everyone 
6.1 Reduce the burden of the has access to housing with 
water bill on family budgets suitable conditions of sanitation 
and hygiene
In the last five years, it has not been possible to reduce 
the difference in the water bill between the households The number of irregular settlements in the city 
in the county (comarca) of Barcelonès and those in has increased steadily in recent years and, as 
Catalonia as a whole. They continue to pay 7% more. a result, so has the number of people who live 
Graph 36: Cost of water bill (Barcelonès region)
Indicator 6.1.1: Get the index of economic effort needed to pay the water bill down to the average for Catalonia
110.0
109.0
108.0 107.7
107.0 107.3 107.4
106.0 106.5
106.1
105.0
104.0
103.0
102.0
101.0 100.0
100.0
7
201 2018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 029 0
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 203
Note: The index for economic effort needed to pay the water bill relates the price of water to the Disposable Family Income (Catalonia = 100).
Source: Catalan Water Agency.
Graph 37: Illegal settlements (dwellings without sanitation)
Indicator 6.2.1a: Reduce the number of illegal settlements to zero in the city
Indicator 6.2.1b: Reduce the number of people living in illegal settlements to zero in the city
500
476
450
428
400
396
350
339
300
250
200
150 143
100 72 79 77 75
56 62 81
50
0
0 0
015 016 017 018 019
2 2 2 2 2 2020
2021 2
202 2023 024 5 6 7 8
2 202 202 202 202 2029 030
2
Source: Area of Social Rights. Barcelona City Council.
51
there. In 2021, 81 irregular settlements were re- network. In 2021, the average age was 65.2 
corded, housing a total of 476 people. (for a better years, 2.2 years older than in 2014, and still far 
understanding of this target, see also SDG 1, tar- from the target of 2030 of reducing it to an aver-
get 1). age of 50 years. 
6.3 Expand the sustainable The state of conservation and the maintenance 
urban drainage systems and the of the sewer network are essential to avoid wa-
ter seepage into the subsoil. The desired scenario 
use of groundwater for 2030 is that this volume of water should not 
exceed 6.71 hm3. In recent years, however, the 
In order to reach an optimal state of rehabilita- indicator has worsened considerably, reaching 
tion, it has been estimated that it would be nec- 11.50 hm3 of water. The economic losses de-
essary to rehabilitate at least 1.0% of the sewer rived from this filtration are estimated at some 
network per year from 2030 onwards. As can be EUR 18.82 million.
seen in the graph, the rehabilitation percentages 
are still very low, as indicated by the 2021 figure The 2020-2100 Integral Sanitation Master 
of 0.19%. Another good indicator of the status Plan for the City of Barcelona (PDISBA) is the 
of the sewer network, and closely related to the guideline for this policy, working on long-term 
previous one, is the average age of the whole scenarios.
Graph 38: Status and renovation of the sewer system
Indicator 6.3.1: Renovate 1% of the sewer system each year.
Indicator 6.3.3: Achieve an average age of the sewer system of less than 50 years. (Right axis)
1.00% 63.0 63.4 63.7 64.1 64.5 64.9 65.2 70.0
1.00%
60.0
0.80% 50.00
50.0
0.60% 40.0
0.40% 30.0
20.0
0.20% 0.33%
0.24% 0.21% 0.27%
0.20% 10.0
0.16% 0.19%
0.14%
0.00% 0.0
014 015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 5 6 7 8 9 0
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 202 202 202 202 202 203
Sewer renovation rate (% annual) Average age of sewer system (years)
Source: Barcelona Cicle de l’Aigua, SA.
Graph 39: Water filtration and pollution
Indicator 6.3.2: Reduce the estimated volume of water filtering into the subsoil resulting from the ageing of the sewer network
to below 6.71 hm3.
Indicator 6.3.4: Reduce economic losses due to pollution of groundwater bodies to less than EUR 10.99 million. (Right axis)
14 24.00
11.50 21.00
12 10.79 10.79 10.79 11.14 11.14 11.14
18.00
10
15.00
8 6.71 12.00
6
17.66 17.66 17.66 18.23 18.23 18.23 18.82 9.00
4
10.99 6.00
2 3.00
0 0.00
014 015
2 2 2016
2017 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
201 201 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 203
Source: Barcelona Cicle de l’Aigua, SA.
52
Graph 40: Drinking water consumption
Indicator 6.4.1: Achieve a drinking water consumption in the home of less than 100 litres per person per day
Indicator 6.4.2: Achieve an urban drinking water consumption of less than 150 litres per person per day
180.0
159.2 162.5 163.6 161.2 161.5
160.0
150.1 150.0
147.4
140.0
120.0
107.5 108.3 107.3 110.4
105.5 107.0 106.1
100.0
100.0
80.0
015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2024
2025 6
202 2027
2028
2029
2030
Source: Annual Report. Water consumption in Barcelona. Barcelona City Council.
6.4 Achieve sustainable has remained very stable since 2015, except 
domestic water consumption, for the peak in 2020, caused by the pandemic 
lockdowns. In contrast, urban water consump-
through water efficiency and tion reached the 2030 target in 2020 and 2021, 
saving measures although these values are highly dependent on 
the fall in tourist activity, and it is very likely that 
Domestic drinking water consumption has tra- they will increase again.
ditionally been low in Barcelona compared to 
other similar cities. Even so, considering that The Barcelona protocol for drought situations is 
drought situations could occur more and more the municipal civil protection plan that caters for 
frequently and intensely, it would be advisa- both the possible situations and problems arising 
ble to reduce it slightly more. As can be seen from the lack of water and the organisation of the 
in the graph, domestic water consumption actions to be taken in each particular case.
Graph 41: Use of greywater and rainwater
Indicator 6.4.3: Greywater used (in m3)
Indicator 6.4.4: Rainwater use on roofs (m3)
14,000
11,844
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000 800 1,000 628 1,000 643
0
2019 2020 2021
Note: 2030 target pending definition.
Source: Barcelona Cicle de l’Aigua, SA.
53
As can be seen in the graph, the use of greywa- European funding, either as part of the consorti-
ter in buildings is still in its early stages. The es- um or as a collaborating entity. The accumulated 
tablishment of a 2030 target is conditional on participation since 2014 as partners totals eight 
government measures and the funding that can research projects, and 41 as collaborators. This is 
be obtained to expand it in the domestic, indus- a well-established trajectory.
trial and commercial spheres. With regard to the 
collection and use of rainwater on roofs, there Barcelona City Council is working on the imple-
was a  significant increase in 2021, reaching mentation of Sustainable Urban Drainage Sys-
11,844 m3 collected. tems (SUDS), which make it possible to regulate 
the water flow in the sewer network and thus re-
Barcelona’s Technical Plan for the Use of Alterna- duce the environmental impact of the overflows 
tive Water Resources (PLARHAB) proposes the of the combined sewage systems and other 
increasing inclusion of resources such as ground- harmful effects generated in times of extremely 
water, regenerated water, run-off rainwater, grey heavy rainfall, when the sewerage system is over-
water and seawater, in all situations where it is not whelmed. Thanks to the effort in implementing 
necessary to use drinking water. this system, by the end of 2021 there were already 
65.7 thousand m2 available, with a notable 
6.5 Implement integrated  progress towards the 2030 deadline. With regard 
water-resources management to mains water consumed by municipal services, 
we can see that it has fallen by 330,000 m3 since 
at all levels, including  2015, to 5.28 million m3 in 2021. If it continues to 
cross-border cooperation decrease at this rate, the target of a reduction to 
4.48 million m3 by 2030 will be achieved.
Participation in research projects provides innova-
tion and continuous improvement in the integrat- Both the PDISBA and the PLARHAB include these 
ed management of water resources. Barcelona lines of work, which are strategic in adapting the 
City Council, through Barcelona Cicle de l’Aigua city to the effects that climate change is having on 
(BCASA), participates in various projects with the water cycle.
Graph 42: Municipal participation in integrated water management research projects
Indicator 6.5.1: Participation of partners in research projects that work towards the integrated management of water resources.
Indicator 6.5.2: Support and collaboration in research projects working on the integrated management of water resources (right axis).
12 55
50
10 41 10 45
8
8 7 8 35
33
6 5 25
4 4 23
4 3 15
12 13 15
2 1 8 5
0 1 -5
014 015 016 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
2 2 2 201 201 201 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 203
Accumulated number of research projects as partners Accumulated number of research projects in support and collaboration
Source: Barcelona Cicle de l’Aigua, SA.
54
Graph 43: Sustainable drainage and water savings through the use of alternative water sources
Indicator 6.5.3: Increase the Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) to 70 million m2.
Indicator 6.5.4: Reduce the annual city water consumption by municipal services by 100,000 m3 (in million m3)
80
70
65.7 70.0
60
50
49.9 50.9
40
30
20
10 5.87 5.81 5.68 5.52 4.99 5.28
4.48
0
016 7 8 9
2 201 201 201 2020 021 2 3 4
2 202 202 202 2025 026
2 2027
2028 029
2 2030
Source: Barcelona Cicle de l’Aigua, SA.
6.6 Ensure the protection and environmental quality of water ecosystems
Graph 44: Microbiological quality of the water of the beaches
Indicator 6.6.2: Forecast of the percentage of time of non-compliance of the microbiological quality of the water of the
beaches of Barcelona during the bathing season of less than 1.80%.
12.0%
9.65%
10.0% 9.63%
7.83%
8.0%
7.06%
6.0%
3.67% 3.83%
4.0% 2.71%
2.0% 1.54% 1.80%
0.0%
014 015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 029 030
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Note: The bathing season is considered to be from June to September.
Source: Barcelona Cicle de l’Aigua, SA.
55
In order to guarantee the quality of the water on With the new Regulations for Citizen Participation, 
Barcelona’s beaches, it is desirable that the time approved in 2017, the way was open to hold a citi-
of non-compliance with the microbiological quality zen consultation on the water supply management 
of the water does not exceed 1.80% of the time of model, which had the support of more than 50 en-
the bathing season from June to September. The tities and associations. That regulation, however, 
record for 2021 decreases to 3.83% of the time. was strongly contested in the courts, mainly by 
The indicator varies greatly, depending on the the concessionaire company of the water supply 
rainfall. The growth of the SUDS (see target 6.5) service. In October 2019, the regulation was an-
and other innovations should allow for increasing- nulled in the courts, with the essential argument 
ly effective regulation, which will allow for a stable that the City Council could not regulate partic-
reduction in pollution. ipation based on the Barcelona Municipal Char-
ter, but had to comply with State regulations. In 
6.a. Develop international city May 2022, a new version of the Regulation was 
cooperation in programmes approved which, in principle, allows this type of 
consultation, although it makes it much more dif-
relating to water and sanitation ficult, both because of the number of supporting 
signatures that must be obtained and because of 
See SDG 17, target 2. the filters that the proposal has to pass through 
before it can receive final approval. On this issue, 
6.b Increase citizen in the debates on the promotion and updating of 
participation in water and the Barcelona Municipal Charter, a proposal has 
been tabled to extend Barcelona’s autonomy in 
sanitation management the regulation of its citizen participation model.
56
Budgetary effort indicators
The budgetary effort indicators show a stable water-related infrastructures is not covered by the 
but very low current expenditure, around 1% of municipal budget.
the total, because the bulk of the investment in 
Current expenditure on SDG 6
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
30 1.5%
29 1.3%
1.1% 1.1%
28 1.0% 1.1%
27 0.9%
26 0.7%
25 0.5%
24 26.5 26.4 0.3%
25.2
23 0.1%
22 -0.1%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 6
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
10 1.0%
9
8 0.7% 0.8%
7 8.8
6 0.5% 0.6%
5
4 0.4%
0.2%
3 5.3 0.4%
0.0%
2 0.2%
1 2.6 0.3
0.7
0 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
57
SDG7 affordable and
clean energy
Ensure access to 
affordable, reliable, 
sustainable and 
modern energy for all
The Balance of energy and greenhouse on Energy and Climate Change pub-
gas emissions is the reference docu- lished by the magazine Barcelona So-
ment for understanding the situation of cietat is also recommended for further 
this SDG in Barcelona. The Monograph information on the subject.
58
Targets and indicators for Barcelona
7.1 Drastically reduce energy poverty and power cuts in Barcelona
Graph 45: Access to energy and high-quality supply
Indicator 7.1.1: Reduce the percentage of households unable to keep their homes at an adequate temperature in the coldest months to below 3%.
Indicator 7.1.2: Reduce the SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) for urban areas in the Province of Barcelona to below 0.3 (right axis)
1.00
14.0%
13.2% 0.90
12.0% 0.77
0.74 0.81 0.80
10.0% 0.66 11.0%
0.70
0.62
8.0% 0.61 8.8%
8.3% 0.60
6.0% 0.50
4.0% 3.0% 0.40
2.0% 0.30
0.30
0.0% 0.20
5
201 2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
Note: The acronym TIEPI refers to the interruption time equivalent to the installed medium-voltage power in municipalities with more than
20,000 supplies.
Source 7.1.1: IERMB. Municipal survey on living conditions.
Source 7.1.2: Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
The TIEPI [Duration of power cut equivalent to the the city of Barcelona, but it is clear that the indica-
installed capacity] is a basic indicator of the qual- tor has improved slightly over the last few years. 
ity of the electricity supply service. In this case, it In comparative terms, in 2020 the TIEPI for urban 
refers to the urban areas of the province of Barce- areas in Catalonia as a whole was 0.88 and 0.47 in 
lona. It is impossible to know what the figure is for the case of Madrid.
Graph 46: Access to energy (territorial comparative)
Indicator: Proportion of people unable to keep their homes at an adequate temperature in the coldest months.
17.0%
15.9%
15.0%
13.2% 14.2%
13.0%
11.0% 10.9%
11.0%
8.8%
9.0% 8.3% 9.1%
8.3% 9.4%
8.1% 8.8%
8.0% 7.5%
7.0% 7.6% 7.5% 6.9%
6.3% 6.9%
5.0%
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Barcelona Catalonia Spain EU-27
Note: The data for Barcelona are calculated by combining samples from two consecutive years; 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020.
Source: IERMB and Idescat. Survey on Living Conditions.
59
Graph 47: Consumption and generation of renewable energy
Indicator 7.2.1: More than 50% of electric energy consumed of renewable origin
Indicator 7.2.2: Over 6.5% of consumed energy generated with local renewable resources
50.0%
50.0%
45.0%
40.0%
35.0%
30.0%
25.0%
20.7%
20.0% 21.2%
16.2% 20.2%
15.0% 16.5% 16.7%
10.0%
6.5%
5.0%
0.94% 0.93% 0.93% 0.92% 0.95% 1.18%
0.0%
015 016 017 018 019 0 1
2 2 2 2 2 202 202 2022 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
202 202 202 202 202 202 202 203
Source: Barcelona Energy Observatory.
The percentage of the population unable to keep The percentage of electricity consumed from re-
their homes at an adequate temperature in cold newable sources in Barcelona is increasing at an 
months increased alarmingly in 2020 and 2021 for excessively slow rate. It only increased by 4 points 
the Spanish and Catalan populations as a whole from 2015 to 2020, it experiences strong oscilla-
(14.2% and 15.9%, respectively, in 2021). In Bar- tions due to the varying presence of hydroelectric 
celona, the latest available data for 2020 already energy and is still very far from the 2030 target of 
pointed to the same trend and stood at 13.2%. reaching 50%. This is a consequence of the low 
The reports Emergency housing, energy poverty weight of renewable energies in Catalonia, as 
and health and The human right to energy: impact can be seen in Graph 48, where we can see that 
of the increase in electricity tariffs in Barcelona, only 9.9% of final energy consumption came from 
provide a deeper understanding of the issue. renewable sources in 2019, far below the figures 
for Spain and the European Union as a whole, with 
The Energy Advice Points (PAE by its initials in values of 18.4% and 19.7%, respectively. 
Catalan) are a specific municipal response to 
this situation. The figures for 2021 show that the Another indicator that should make an exponential 
PAEs have provided assistance to almost 155,500 leap in the coming years is the local production of 
people since 2015 and, in addition, they have renewable energy, because the energy consumed 
managed to prevent 107,960 supply disconnec- that was generated with local renewable resourc-
tions. Other related documentation can be found es was only 1.18% in 2020 in Barcelona, 0.24% 
in SDG 1. more than in 2015 (0.94%).
7.2 An exponential leap in the The promotion of the installation of renewable en-
local consumption and the ergies is being driven by the MES (Mecanisme de 
Energia Sostenible) Barcelona and Moment Solar 
production of renewable energy Barcelona programmes. 
60
Graph 48: Renewable energy consumption (territorial comparative)
Indicator: Proportion of renewable energies over final energy consumption.
25.0%
20.0% 17.8% 18.0% 18.5% 18.9% 19.7%
15.0% 17.4% 17.6% 17.5% 18.4%
16.3%
10.0%
8.7% 9.1% 9.4% 9.9%
5.0% 7.4%
2.6% 2.7% 2.7% 2.6%
0.0% 2.7%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Barcelona Catalonia Spain European Union-27
Source Catalonia: Department of Enterprise and Knowledge. Catalan Energy Institute. Source Spain and the European Union: Eurostat.
Source Barcelona: Barcelona Energy Observatory.
Graph 49: Energy efficiency
Indicator 7.3.1: Number of buildings with A and B energy ratings
Indicator 7.3.2: Energy renovation of 30% of municipal buildings (right axis)
10,000 50.0%
9,000 45.0%
8,000 40.0%
7,000 35.0%
30.0%
6,000 30.0%
5,000 25.0%
4,000 3,871 20.0%
3,000 15.0%
2,000 10.0%
1,000 5.0%
256
0 0.0%
017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 7 8 9 0
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 202 202 202 203
Number of buildings with energy ratings Accumulated % of municipal buildings subjected to energy renovation
A and B every year (n.a.)
Note 1: 2030 target value per indicator 7.3.1 still to be defined.
Note 2: Data not available for indicator 7.3.2.
Source: Barcelona Energy Agency.
7.3 A stock of private and centages that are very similar to those of the 
public buildings with high metropolitan area as a whole. A key factor in ad-
aptation and mitigation strategies in the face of 
energy efficiency climate change, however, is improving the ther-
mal performance and energy efficiency of the 
The number of buildings with A and B energy city’s buildings. 
ratings has multiplied by 15 in just two years, 
but these still represent a very small minority of The 2030 Climate Emergency Action Plan 
the city’s housing stock. It should be remem- attaches particular importance to this issue (Build-
bered that more than half of the city’s buildings ings Better Than New) and the Next Generation 
are over 60 years old. In 2018 only 30% of the Funds have made it possible to obtain resourc-
total of 823,624 homes were energy certified es to finance this transformation, which will be 
and of these 94% were certified D or lower; per- very costly. 
61
Budgetary effort indicators
The budgetary effort indicators show a stable expenditure budget, and also of investment for the 
allocation to this SDG of 0.5% of the current MIP as a whole.
Current expenditure on SDG 7
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
20 0.7%
18
0.6%
16 0.5% 0.5% 0.5%
14 0.5%
12 0.4%
10
8 0.3%
6 12.7 11.6 13
0.2%
4
0.1%
2
0 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 7
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
15 1.0%
12 0.7% 0.8%
0.6%
0.6%
9 0.5% 0.6%
6 0.4%
0.2% 11.3
3 0.2%
4.6
2.3 3.1
1.3
0 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
62
63
SDG8 decent work
and economic
growth
Promote sustained, 
inclusive and 
sustainable economic 
growth, full and
productive employment 
and decent work for all
There is plenty of information available on In terms of municipal action, a decisive devel-
Barcelona’s economy and it is frequently opment was the creation of the Economic Re-
updated. It can be found in various formats. sponse Coordination Centre (CECORE), which 
The Barcelona Economia website gath- during the critical months of 2020 set into mo-
ers indicators and reports from all sectors. tion a wide range of actions aimed at promoting 
It publishes a monthly report on the eco- a resilient recovery from the economic hardship 
nomic situation in Barcelona, with synthetic caused by the pandemic. During the same pe-
and quick-to-read information. A more in- riod, the City Council adopted an integrated 
depth option is the publication “Barcelona economic strategy (Barcelona GREEN DEAL – 
in figures: main economic indicators of the A new economic agenda for the Barcelona of 
Barcelona area”. If you are looking for city 2030). The Study of the impact of the 2020-2021 
rankings with an economic perspective, the CECORE measures and the 2021 Barcelona Ac-
most appropriate one is the Barcelona Ob- tiva Social Responsibility Report give an account 
servatory Report. of the action carried out during this period.
64
Targets and indicators for Barcelona
8.1 Maintain an average annual economic growth of around 1.2%, 
placing the focus of the new growth on the green and circular 
economy, as well as on the digital sector 
Graph 50: Growth of the economy (Barcelona index)
Indicator 8.1.1: A growth of real annual per-capita GDP of 1.2% for the 2015-2030 period
140.0
130.0
121.03
120.0
114.3
109.0
110.0 106.0 112.2
103.1 106.9
100.0
100.0 99.7
90.0
2014 5
201 2016
2017 8
201 2019
2020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 8 9
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 202 202 2030
Source Barcelona: Municipal Data Office.
Graph 51: Growth of the economy
Real annual per-capita GDP growth. (territorial comparative)
15.00%
10.00%
3.9% 7.3%
5.00% 3.1% 2.9% 2.8% 2.9% 5.2%
2.8% 2.7% 1.8% 1.9%
1.4% 5.5%
2.1% 1.8% 2.6%
0.00% 2.0% 1.4%
2015
2016
2017
2018 019 020 021
2 -26.3% 2
-5.00%
-11.3%
-10.00%
-15.00% -12.8%
Real annual per-capita GDP growth (Barcelona) Real annual per-capita GDP growth (European Union)
Real annual per-capita GDP growth (Spain)
Source Spain and the European Union: World Bank. Source Barcelona: Municipal Data Office.
Real GDP per capita in Barcelona grew above the same quarter of the previous year. As can 
the expected level until 2019, placing the in- be seen in Graph 51, this dynamic is shared 
dex value at 114.3 points. In 2020, as a result by the Spanish economy, though to a lesser 
of the economic crisis caused by Covid-19, extent. The difference is explained by the fact 
GDP per capita contracted by 12.8%, falling to that Barcelona is a city based on services and 
the levels of 2014. In 2021, the recovery was is very touristic. The 2021 Barcelona Gross 
strong but incomplete (7.3%). The advanced Domestic Product report provides further in-
data for the second quarter of 2022 show that formation on the calculation and results of this 
Barcelona’s GDP grew by 6.8% compared to important indicator. 
65
In 2021 the “Easy Barcelona Plan” was approved, The GDP per person employed as a measure of 
with the aim of creating a more favourable eco- productivity experienced a sharp reduction in 
system for economic and business activity. In this 2020, with a drop of 7.90 points compared to the 
line, measures have been implemented to pro- previous year. The sharp contraction in the city’s 
mote local businesses and local economic activity, GDP in 2020 undermined the positive trend of 
such as “Amunt persianes!”: a strategy to boost the previous three years. In 2021, the substantial 
economic activity in Barcelona’s ground-floor recovery in GDP was also reflected in an improve-
premises, the Government measure for the pres- ment in productivity, but it was still at levels seen 
ervation and promotion of emblematic commercial in 2017. 
establishments in Barcelona 2021-2024, the Strat-
egy and action plan for rehabilitation in Barcelona There is a very slight tendency towards the con-
2021-2024, as well as a whole series of plans for centration of the city’s economy in certain sec-
the post-pandemic reactivation of the districts, tors. The target for 2030 is to maintain the con-
such as Ciutat Vella (supported by a socio-eco- centration below 6, as a more diversified econo-
nomic report with a 2030 vision), Nou Barris, my is more resilient and adaptable to changes in 
Sant Martí, les Corts, Gràcia, Horta-Guinardó and the context.
Sant Andreu.
In order to promote the diversification of the econ-
8.2 A highly productive and omy, work has been carried out to identify and 
strengthen new “hubs” or centres of economic 
diversified economy activity, as well as urban clusters that bring togeth-
er companies in certain sectors.
Graph 52: Productivity of the economy
Indicator 8.2.1: A cumulative growth of the index value of GDP growth per person employed to 123.0 (year 2014 = base 100)
140.0 Accumulated
123.0 10.00% growth in
120.0
102.5 103.7 107.7 108.5 productivity
103.6
100.0 100.8 (year 2014 base
100.0 5.00% 100): GDP per
99.9 3.74% person
80.0 2.48% 3.89%
2.87% employed
0.70% 0.00%
60.0 Annual
-1.65% growth of
40.0
-5.00% productivity
20.0 (growth of
GDP per
0.0 -7.90% -10.00% person
014 015 016
2 2 2 2017
2018 019 020 021
2 2 2 2022 23 24 employed)
20 20 2025
2026 7
202 2028 029
2 2030
Right axis.
.
Source: Original, based on GDP data and the Labour Force Survey from the Municipal Data Office.
Graph 53: Concentration/Diversification of Barcelona’s productive sectors
Indicator 8.2.2: A Concentration/Diversification index of the productive sectors of less than 6%
7.00%
Source: Original,
6.50% based on
6.00% Municipal Statistics
6.00% data on the GDP
5.63% 5.60% component sectors
5.74% 5.79%
5.45% 5.83%
5.50%
5.43% Description: Indicator
The Concentration
5.00% (larger)/Diversification
(smaller) indicator is
4.50% calculated: ∑(% share
of GDP in the GDP of each
sector of activity CCAE^2).
4.00% The higher the value, the
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 higher the concentration.
66
8.3 Barcelona will be a European 
capital for entrepreneurship
Graph 54: Entrepreneur economy
Indicator 8.3.1: Increase the Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) rate for the population living in Barcelona to above 10
12.0
10.0
10.0
8.5 8.6
8.0 7.0 7.1 7.2
6.1
6.0 6.9
4.0
2.0
0.0
015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2025 6
202 2027
2028
2029 0
203
Note: The TEA measures the percentage of entrepreneurial initiatives less than three and a half years old that exist in a market.
Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.
The City Council is working to promote entrepre- The Barcelona entrepreneurship report, prepared 
neurship as it represents a sign of good economic by the Municipal Data Office using a different 
health and a valuable target for the 2030 Agenda. methodology, provides an in-depth analysis of this 
The data collected by the Global Entrepreneurship phenomenon, offering a metropolitan perspective 
Monitor help to measure the level of entrepreneur- and a comparison with other cities. 
ship in a given territory. In the graph we can see 
how the rate of entrepreneurial activity (TEA) in the 
Barcelona area, despite registering a decrease in 8.4 10-30-50 for a sustainable 
the values in 2019 and 2020, rises to 7.2 in 2021. economy in Barcelona
Graph 55: Sustainable economy
Indicator 8.4.1: Achieve that 10% of the GDP is generated by the social economy
Indicator 8.4.2: Reduce commerce sector GHG emissions by 50% (x1.000 Tons of CO2)
Indicator 8.4.3: Reduce industrial waste generation per unit produced by 30% (Kg. of waste per €1,000 of GVA to
Industry). (Right axis)
1,000 38.0 40 Note: Indicator
35.2 8.4.1 has no
900
32.4 35 reference value
800 32.0 or defined source.
32.2 30.4 30 Source 8.4.2: Area
700 729.7 759.8 26.6 of Urban Ecology.
687.0 683.6 702.4
600 25 Barcelona City
Council.
500 544.5 20 Source 8.4.3:
Idescat.
400 15
300 343.5
10
200 10%
100 5
0 0
015
2 2016 7
201 2018
2019
2020
2021 022 023 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
2 2 202 202 202 202 202 202 203
67
Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to speci- Despite the occasional increase in the 
fy a suitable calculation methodology to measure the unemployed population in Barcelona in 2020, 
percentage of GDP generated by the social economy. reaching 103.9 thousand unemployed in the 
4th quarter of 2020, the trend in unemployment 
The target of reducing emissions in the commercial data has been very positive since 2015. The 
sector by 50% went in the opposite direction to that year 2021 closed with 54.4 thousand people 
intended between 2017 and 2019. The 28.3% de- unemployed, below the target set for 2030. 
crease recorded in 2020 compared to the previous This very favourable trend in unemployment 
year essentially reflects the decrease in commercial translates into a gradual decrease in long-term 
activity during the pandemic. It remains to be seen unemployment rates, despite the rebound in 
to what extent the post-pandemic recovery will be 2021. In Catalonia and Spain, the trend in long-
able to maintain a part of the reduction in emissions. term unemployment is very similar to that of 
Barcelona, but with higher values, especially in 
On the other hand, the reduction in the generation the case of Spain (Graph 59).
of industrial waste, despite the upturn experienced 
in 2018, does show a gradual decrease and is in With regard to the in-work poverty rate, it also 
line with the target of reducing it by 30% by 2030, shows a very favourable progression and is on 
to 26.6 kg per €1,000 of GVA in industry. track to be below 10.0% by 2030. In fact, the 
percentage of people in work living in pover-
The 2030 Strategy for the Social and Solidarity ty in Barcelona in 2020 stood at 10.9%. When 
Economy in Barcelona: reactivating and strength- compared by territory, we can see that these 
ening an economy for life in the city aims to percentages are very similar both in Catalonia 
strengthen and boost the growth of a sector that and in Spain, but in the case of Barcelona the 
will be essential to achieve a truly sustainable de- reduction has been very intense, because it be-
velopment model. gan with much higher levels of in-work poverty 
(Graph 58).
8.5 Reduce unemployment and 
in-work poverty and eliminate The ambitious goal of eradicating the gender 
pay gap by 2030 is still far from being achieved. 
the gender wage gap, with Even so, there is a clear trend towards reducing 
a redoubled effort concerning the gap. The latest available data for 2020 
labour market integration for indicates that the gender pay gap is still 17.5%, 
1.2 points lower than in 2019, basically because 
people with disabilities during the pandemic men’s average wages lost 
Graph 56: Quantity and quality of employment
Indicator 8.5.1: Get unemployment to below 70,000 people (in thousands, right axis)
Indicator 8.5.2: Reduce the working poverty rate to below 10%
Indicator 8.5.3: Eradicate the gender wage gap
Indicator 8.5.4: Over 1,000 people contracted by the Barcelona Job Placement network (right axis)
25.0% 22.8% 1200
21.8% 21.9% 21.2% 1,000
20.0% 1000
18.7%
17.1% 16.3% 772 17.5% 804 800
15.0%
679
506 658 14.2% 600
563 10.9%
10.0%
445 10.0% 400
5.0%
103.0 93.8 200
80.3 83.0 70.3 103.9 54.4 70.0
0.0% 0.0%0
5 6 7 8 9 0
201 201 201 201 201 202 2021 022 023 024
2 2 2 2025 026 027
2 2 2028
2029 030
2
Source 851: Municipal Data Office based on the Labour force survey.
Source 852: IERMB. Survey on Living Conditions.
Source 853: Municipal Data Office. Wages in Barcelona
Source 854: Area of Social Rights
68
more purchasing power (-1.8%) than women’s the population aged 16 to 64 increased by 4.3 
(-0.4%). points in Barcelona, from 69.2% in 2015 to 73.5% 
in 2021. 
The inclusion of people with disabilities in the la-
bour market is very important in the fight against The 2021-2030 Barcelona Quality Employment 
inequalities. This is the primary mission of the Agreement, with its 2022-2023 Action Plan, is the 
Barcelona Labour Inclusion Network (Xarxa d’In- reference document for understanding the strate-
clusió Laboral de Barcelona – XIB). In 2021, a total gic focus of this policy. In addition to prioritising 
of 804 people were hired by the XIB, consolidating young people (see target 8.6), work has also been 
the positive trend of the indicator since 2016. done on the labour market integration of specific 
groups, such as transgender people, with publi-
In every year since 2015, the specific employment cations such as the Guide to improve the employ-
rate in Barcelona has followed the same trend as ability of transgender people, aimed at technical 
in Catalonia, Spain and the European Union as employment teams, and the Guide to develop 
a whole, but at a slightly higher level. Between protocols for gender transition in the workplace, 
2015 and 2021, the specific employment rate for aimed at companies and administrations. 
Figure 57. Unemployment rate (territorial comparison)
80.0%
75.0% 72.9%
72.5% 72.5% 71.7% 73.5%
72.0% 71.3% 73.1%
69.2% 69.6% 71.9% 72.7% 73.1%
70.0% 68.5% 70.9% 72.9% 73.6% 71.2%
70.1% 71.8%
67.7% 68.0%
67.0% 67.7%
65.0% 65.5% 65.7%
63.9%
62.0%
60.0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Barcelona Catalonia Spain European Union-27
Note: The indicator measures the specific employment rate of 20 to 64 year-olds for Catalonia, Spain and the EU,
and of 16 to 64 year-olds for Barcelona.
Source Catalonia: Idescat. Active Population Survey. Source Spain and the European Union: Eurostat.
Source Barcelona: Municipal Data Office. Active Population Survey.
Graph 58: In-work poverty risk rate (territorial comparison)
18.0%
16.3%
16.0% 17.1%
14.4% 14.2%
14.0% 13.1% 12.7%
12.0%
12.2% 12.9% 11.8%
12.1% 10.9%
10.0% 10.9%
9.5%
8.0% 9.3% 9.0%
6.0%
2017 2018 2019 2020
Barcelona Catalonia Spain EU-27
Note: The data for Barcelona are calculated by combining samples from two consecutive years; 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020.
Source Catalonia: Idescat. Survey on Living Conditions. Source Spain and the European Union: Eurostat. Source Barcelona: IERMB.
69
Graph 59: Long-term unemployment rate (territorial comparison)
12.0% 11.4%
10.0% 9.5%
10.4%
8.0% 8.5% 7.7%
8.0% 6.4%
7.5% 6.3% 6.2%
6.0% 5.3% 5.0%
5.2% 4.7%
4.0% 4.1% 4.8%
4.9% 3.6%
4.3% 4.1% 4.0%
3.7% 3.3% 3.2%
3.2% 2.8%
2.0% 2.7% 2.5%
0.0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Barcelona Catalonia Spain European Union-27
Note: The indicator measures the percentage of the economically active population aged 16 to 74 who have been unemployed for 12 months or more.
Source Catalonia: Idescat. Active Population Survey. Source Spain and the European Union: Eurostat.
Source Barcelona: Municipal Data Office. Active Population Survey.
Of particular interest is the work carried out to ana- 8.6 More job opportunities for 
lyse the social and economic return of the social and young people
labour insertion mechanisms deployed in the “work in 
the neighbourhoods” project (with actions to stimu- The achievement of the 2030 Agenda also involves 
late and promote employment tailored to each neigh- strengthening employment and training opportu-
bourhood, especially in the most vulnerable ones). nities for young people, thus avoiding situations 
of social risk exposure resulting from not working 
The reports Basic data on the labour market in or studying. Based on the data collected by the 
Barcelona and Wage poverty in Barcelona pro- 2020 Youth Survey, it was estimated that at that 
vide a whole range of data to gain a better under- time 9% of young people were neither working 
standing of this issue. The Futures of Work Dossier nor studying. In relation to unemployment, the gap 
published by the magazine Barcelona Metròpolis between the youth unemployment rate and the 
offers more qualitative reflections, but is neverthe- unemployment rate of the working population 
less very much up to date. as  a whole has increased progressively since 
Graph 60: Youth unemployment
Indicator 8.6.1: Reduce the differential between youth unemployment (aged 16 to 24) and the average unemployment
rate to below 10%
Indicator 8.6.1: Proportion of young people (aged 15 to 34) who are neither employed, studying nor receiving training
20.0%
18.0% 17.5%
15.7%
16.0% 15.4%
14.0%
12.2% 12.5%
12.0% 11.8%
10.0%
10.0% 8.1%
9.0%
8.0%
6.0%
4.0%
2.0%
0.0%
5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
201 201 201 201 201 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 203
Source 861: Municipal Data Office based on the Labour force survey.
Source 862: 2020 Barcelona Youth Survey.
70
Graph 61: Stability and security at work
Indicator 8.8.1: Reduce serious injuries and deaths to less than 10 out of 100,000 inhabitants a year
Indicator 8.8.2: Reduce work-related illnesses to less than 50 out of 100,000 inhabitants a year
Indicator 8.8.3: Reduce the temporary employment rate to 10% (right axis)
Indicator 8.8.4: Eradicate the temporary-employment gender gap (right axis)
100.0 96.2 96.6
95.5
90.0 87.3
84.9 53.0%
80.0
43.0%
70.0
60.0 33.0%
50.0
50.0
19.9% 21.3% 20.7%
18.5% 37.1 41.1 23.0%
40.016.9% 18.6%
26.4 17.7%
30.0 32.4 24.5 28.7 13.0%
20.8 19.1 20.7 10.0%
20.0 3.7%
0.4% 3.7%
5.5% 3.0%
10.0 10.0
0.8% 1.5% 2.1% 0.0%
0.0 -7.0%
015
2 2016
2017
2018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2026 027 028
2 2 2029
2030
Source 8.8.1 and 8.8.2: Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB).
Source 8.8.3 and 8.8.4: Municipal Data Office based on the Labour force survey.
2016. It is evident that the young population has in December 2021 seems to be clearly reversing 
not benefited to the same extent from the boom the trend. The November 2022 economic out-
in the job market. It seems that the year 2021 may look report states that “the number of permanent 
mark a turning point. It remains to be seen wheth- contracts has multiplied its volume by 2.3 times 
er the trend consolidates and accelerates enough to that before the pandemic and its weight from 
to reach the 10% target set for 2030. The 2020- January to November stands at 41% of the total, 
2023 Fostering Youth Employment Plan will need a new high”.
to be renewed and strengthened.
8.8 Barcelona, 100% decent 
and safe employment: 
Fewer accidents and less 
temporary employment
The indicators for job-related accidents and illness-
es fell to historic lows in 2020 (especially the latter, 
which fell by more than 60%!), coinciding with the 
lockdown and the massive Temporary Employ-
ment Adjustment Plans (Expedients de Regulació 
Temporal de l’Ocupació). In 2021 both indicators 
worsened, but only slightly. If this trend can be 
maintained, the desired targets for 2030 could be 
met. The Barcelona Health and Labour Indicators 
report is essential in order to understand this reality.
With regard to the temporary employment rate, 
it stood at 18.6% in 2021, 1.7 points higher than 
the 16.9% of 2015. The gender gap also widened 
to 5.5 percentage points. The prospects of both 
indicators for reaching the 2030 target seem to 
be poor. However, the labour reform approved 
71
8.9 Achieve a tourism offer that In order to have a quality, sustainable and bal-
is 100% 2030 Agenda compliant: anced tourist offer, the number of tourist accom-
modation places in relation to the total resident 
Sustainable, safe and high-quality population should not exceed 8.5% in 2030. Since 
2016 this indicator has remained fairly stable, with 
Graph 62 shows that in 2020, the average an increase of 0.4 percentage points. 
spending per tourist in Barcelona recorded its 
lowest levels since 2015, due to the effect of Figure 63 shows that in 2021 a total of 312 tour oper-
Covid-19 on the demand for accommodation ators were committed to responsible and respectful 
and tourist services. The average spending management of the environment, culture, working 
per tourist per night decreased from €59.50 to conditions, gender equality, and social and econom-
€35.10 from 2019 to 2020, while the average ic return, within the framework of the Barcelona Bio-
spending per one-day stay decreased from sphere Commitment to Sustainable Tourism.
€82.30 to €69.20. In 2021 there was a recovery 
in spending per tourist (€46.20 per night and The 2020 Strategic Tourism Plan focuses on the 
€71.90 per stay), which is expected to consol- change of model that the Biosphere initiative aims 
idate in 2022. to achieve.
Graph 62: Tourist accommodation and spending
Indicator 8.9.3a: Increase the average per-tourist accommodation expenditure to €60 (night)
Indicator 8.9.3b: Increase the average per-tourist spending to €90 (day)
Indicator 8.9.4: Get the ratio of tourist accommodation to resident population to 8.5% (right axis)
160 15.0%
140 13.0%
120 11.0%
8.8% 9.0% 9.1% 9.1% 9.0%
100 9.2% 8.5%
90.09.0%
7.2% 79.4 79.6 82.3
80
78.4 69.2 71.9 7.0%
60 54.1 56.1 55.5 59.5 60.0
5.0%
46.2
40 35.1 3.0%
20 1.0%
0 -1.0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
Average per-tourist accommodation expenditure (night) Average spending (day) Tourist beds in relation to resident population
Note: Both the number of tourist beds and the average expenditure per tourist include hotels, aparthotels, hostels, pensions, youth hostels,
tourist apartments and flats for tourist use.
Source: Barcelona Tourism Observatory.
Graph 63: Sustainable tourism
Indicator 8.9.2: Number of companies and organisations with theBiosphereseal in the city of Barcelona
350
300 312
250
200 219
150
2020 2021
Note 1: 2030 target pending definition.
Note 2: The Barcelona Biosphere Commitment to Sustainable Tourism recognises those tour operators that are committed to responsible
and respectful management of the environment, culture, working conditions, gender equality, and social and economic return.
Source: Area of Urban Ecology. More Sustainable Barcelona.
72
Budgetary effort indicators
The budgetary effort indicators show that activities and grants were funded as a result of 
a considerable level of current expenditure, the pandemic. The allocation for investment is 
around EUR 100 million each year, or 4% of much lower, because the network of facilities for 
the total, is concentrated in this SDG. In 2020, the promotion of the economy and employment 
it was significantly higher because extraordinary is consolidated.
Current expenditure on SDG 8
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
5.5%
140 4.7% 4.2%
120 4.0% 4.5%
100 3.5%
80 2.5%
60
109.3 98.9 99.7 1.5%
40
20 0.5%
0 -0.5%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 8
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
60 5.0%
50
4.0%
49.6
40
3.0%
2.3% 2.3%
30 2.0% 2.1%
1.7% 2.0%
20
1.0%
10 17 17.6
6.2 8.8
0 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
73
SDG9 industry,
innovation
infrastructure
Build resilient 
infrastructure, promote 
inclusive and sustainable 
industrialisation and 
foster innovation
74
Targets and indicators for Barcelona
9.1 Complete the strategic Î BSC-Design and prototyping of the future 
projects for the economic European chip
transformation of Barcelona Î Revitalising ground-floor premises
The strategic projects for the transformation of the Î DUM: Roll-out of the proposals deriv-
city form part of the various sectoral strategies re- ing from the municipal strategy for urban 
ferred to throughout this report. goods distribution
Strategic projects specifically focused on eco- Î Fira Hub: Knowledge and Artech Hub
nomic modernisation and digital transforma-
tion were included as a priority in the document Î Boosting research and innovation: Ciuta-
“Barcelona, making plans for the future”, draft- della of knowledge
ed to prepare for municipal applications for Next 
Generation Funds. Î Boosting the Blue Economy
Specifically, they are as follows: Î L’Escocesa: Innovation in sustainable 
food, the food industry and gastronomy
Î Barcelona Renewable 2030: Energy reno-
vation and regeneration Î Mercabarna Gates: Creation of a Hub 
for logistics innovation for the food in-
Î Barcelona Innovation Coast to boost the dustry which will be a benchmark in 
research-company knowledge transfer southern Europe
Î Besòs industry: Transformation of the Î Digital transformation of the administration 
Besòs economic activity sites into and public services
a strategic area for the productive city
This indicator is not yet operational. It will need 
Î Urban digital twin to be constructed on the basis of the evaluation 
of the completion of these projects, and others 
Î Digital divide, digital school, and digital that may be added to the list in the next term of 
skills and reskilling office.
75
Graph 64: Industry’s economic weight and GHG emissions
Indicator 9.2.1: 50% reduction in GHG emissions from industrial buildings (x1000 tone of CO2)
Indicator 9.2.2: Increase the weighting of BMA industry to 12% of GVA (right axis)
350.0 20.0%
18.0%
300.0 285.6 289.5 287.6 289.1
261.8 265.2 16.0%
250.0 14.0%
11.8% 11.7% 11.8% 11.6% 12.0%
200.0 12.0%
11.2%
10.0%
150.0 142.8
8.0%
100.0 6.0%
4.0%
50.0
2.0%
0.0 0.0%
015 016
2 2 2017
2018
2019 020
2 2021
2022 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
202 202 202 202 202 202 202 203
Source 9.2.1: Area of Urban Ecology. Barcelona City Council.
Source 9.2.2: IERMB.
9.2 A sustainable and competitiveness and sustainability of SMEs. Spe-
competitive industry cifically, the studies: “The SME in the city of Bar-
celona” and “The SME and the SDGs in the city 
Greenhouse gas emissions in the industrial sector of Barcelona”. The results then showed a robust 
have remained very stable since 2015. It seems network of small and medium-sized enterprises, 
clear that the measures adopted so far have which had evolved favourably during the 2015-
not been sufficient to achieve a significant re- 2019 period. A second edition of the study will be 
duction, in line with the 50% target set for 2030. carried out in 2023, which will provide evidence 
With regard to the weight of industry on the en- on how SMEs are coping with the impact of the 
tire economy, taking the Barcelona Metropolitan pandemic and how their commitment to the 2030 
Area as a whole, the data point to a slight but Agenda is progressing.
constant decline.
9.4 Plan for the digital transfor-
With the aim of revitalising and modernising indus- mation of Barcelona
try, from an approach in line with the reality of the 
city’s industrial sector, government measures to The government measure of the municipal strategy 
promote creative industries and Impulsem el 22@ for algorithms and data for the ethical promotion 
(towards a more productive, more inclusive and of artificial intelligence updates and completes 
more sustainable Poblenou with 22@), as well as the measures that were approved between 2017 
the Barcelona Innovation Coast project, have been and 2018 on open digitalisation (free programming 
implemented. and agile development of services) and ethical 
and responsible data management, as well as the 
9.3 SMEs that are more code of technological practices, the digital servic-
robust, digital, diversified and es standards and the Barcelona City Council ICT 
public procurement guide.
sustainable, export more and 
generate jobs 9.5 Barcelona, one of the five 
European capitals of science 
In 2021, through the partnership established be-
tween the City Council and the Employers’ Organ- and innovation
isation for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in 
Catalonia (PIMEC), new data were generated in After remaining in fourth place among the Euro-
order to monitor target 9.3, which addresses the pean cities listed in the Innovation Cities Index for 
76
Graph 65: City and innovation
Indicator 9.5.1: 5th position or higher for Barcelona in the Innovation Cities Index (European ranking)
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
0
4
5 5 4
5 5
8
10
11
13
15
20
25
Note: The index is calculated from 162 indicators, grouped into 31 segments that cover all the economic, industrial and
social functions of an economy.
Source: Innovation Cities Index.
two consecutive years (2019 and 2020), in 2021 Citizenship, the Government Measure “Barcelona 
Barcelona slipped to eleventh place. We hope city of talent” (for the promotion of municipal pol-
that in the coming years Barcelona will be able to icies for the generation, development, attraction, 
regain a place among the top five, in a similar way reception and retention of talent in Barcelona), the 
to the Tech Cities of the Future ranking (7th) or the Plan for the promotion of academic stays and inter-
ranking of cities that attract start-ups (5th) or the national mobility for learning purposes, the meas-
Knowledge Cities ranking, which measures the ure to promote urban innovation in Barcelona and 
amount of scientific production (5th). These and the Plan to relaunch the Citizen Science Office.
other references can be found in the Barcelona 
Observatory report. 9.b. Develop the city’s 
international cooperation 
In recent years, the city has worked to consoli-
date and expand Barcelona’s potential as a city with the development of 
that generates knowledge and innovation. These infrastructures and sustainable 
include Barcelona City of Science (reflection and 
action to project Barcelona in the international local research and innovation 
scientific and academic context), the measure industries, with technological 
Relaunching the 2020-2023 Barcelona Science components
Plan, the measure Promotion of the 2021-2030 
South Campus Master Plan: Knowledge and See SDG 17, target 2.
77
9.c. Guarantee universal access The digital divide has been perfectly document-
to affordable high-quality Internet ed and explained in the survey The digital divide 
in the city of Barcelona 2020 and the Dossier 
The data collected in the Municipal Services Sur- The digital divides published by the magazine 
vey indicate that in 2022, 93.5% of the population Barcelona Metròpolis.
over the age of 18 had Internet access at home. In 
view of the performance of this indicator, it seems In terms of measures, the BcnFemTech 2021-
that we are moving in the right direction in terms 2023: for gender equality in the ICT sector is of 
of guaranteeing universal, high-quality Internet particular note. 
access from 2030 onwards. 
Graph 66: Internet access and computer equipment
Indicator 9.c.1: Increase the proportion of people over the age of 18 who have access to the Internet at home to 99%
Indicator 9.c.2: Proportion of people aged over 18 who have a computer (laptop or desktop) at home
100.0%
99.0%
95.0% 92.1% 90.8% 92.4%
90.7% 93.5%
90.0%
85.5% 85.7% 88.5%
83.7%
85.0% 87.7% 86.3%
84.5% 85.8% 84.0% 85.4%
80.0% 82.2%
75.0%
70.0%
65.0%
60.0%
55.0%
50.0%
015 016 017 018 019 020 021 2
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 202 2023 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
202 202 202 202 202 202 203
Source: Municipal Services Survey.
78
Budgetary effort indicators
The budgetary effort indicators show a slight investment, which accounts for almost 20% of the 
increase in current expenditure, approach- total envisaged in the MIP.
ing EUR 100 million. But the most important is 
Current expenditure on SDG 9
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
110 5.0%
105 4.0% 3.8%
3.7% 4.0%
100
95 3.0%
90
85 2.0%
94.3 93.7
80
85.2 1.0%
75
70 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 9
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
500 50.0%
45.0%
400 442 40.0%
35.0%
28.8%
300 30.0%
20.9% 16.7% 18.9% 25.0%
200 15.6% 20.0%
15.0%
100 10.0%
90.9 106.8 125.5 118.9 5.0%
0 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
79
SDG10 reduced
inequalities
Reduce inequality within 
and among countries
In this SDG, the reference document for mu- the report of the Social Rights, Global Justice, 
nicipal policies is the 2017-2027 Strategy for Feminism and LGTBI Area and the 2020-2021 
Inclusion and Reduction of Social Inequalities, report on cross-cutting programmes of the Cul-
which in 2020 was updated to 2030 and pro- ture, Education, Science and Community Area. 
vided with new targets, in line with the SDGs. In 
the last two years, other significant measures Alongside this is the Neighbourhood Plan, de-
have been approved, such as Promoting social signed to reverse territorial inequalities in the 
action: territory, participation and community, city. It is active in 16 neighbourhoods to im-
or at district level the 2022-2024 Nou Barris So- prove the quality of life and life opportunities 
cial Action Plan. For a better understanding of of its residents. Each neighbourhood plan fo-
the management in this area, you can consult cuses on transforming areas such as educa-
80
tion and public health, social rights, gender equal- the lives and rights of children and adolescents? 
ity and community action, housing, employment, How has the city government responded?) 
economic growth and the social economy, public and The youth of Barcelona in the year of the 
space and accessibility, environmental sustaina- pandemic: 10 analyses of the 2020 Barcelona 
bility and the climate emergency. Youth Survey.
Equality and social inclusion are addressed from In the case of older people, the previous term of 
different sectors (income, health, education, office saw the drafting and approval of the strat-
housing, culture, etc.) and in a specific way de- egy on demographic change and ageing: a city 
pending on each type of person or social group. for all life cycles 2018-2030. Barcelona’s experi-
For the younger population, the main references ence in programmes to promote the inclusion of 
are the 2021-2030 Children’s Plan (challenges older people and the promotion of active ageing 
and actions to improve the lives and rights of has been highlighted in the city’s contributions 
children and adolescents in Barcelona) and the to the European Commission’s Green Paper on 
2018-2028 Youth Facilities and Services Plan. In Ageing. Meanwhile, studies have continued on 
the design of municipal action, it has been pos- the different dimensions and implications of the 
sible to count on the valuable work of the Bar- process of social ageing, as shown in the mon-
celona Institute for Childhood and Adolescence, ograph published by Barcelona Societat (a jour-
developed through programmes such as the nal of knowledge and social analysis) and the 
“Observatory 0-17 BCN: lives and rights of chil- research project “Migrants and ageing in the city 
dren and adolescents in the city”. In the last two of Barcelona”.
years, research has focused on analysing the 
impact of the pandemic on this age group, with Other cross-cutting policies for equality and/
work such as the report on Covid-19 and child- or inclusion are set out in specific sections of 
hood in Barcelona (“What does the urgent social this SDG, or, in the case of gender equality, 
research tell us about the impact of Covid-19 on in SDG 5. 
Targets and indicators for Barcelona
10.1 Significantly reduce inequality in the distribution of income in 
Barcelona, while preventing the city’s average Gross Disposable 
Household Income differing from the Metropolitan average
Graph 67: Inequality in income distribution
Indicator 10.1.1: Reduce income gap between the 20% of the population with the highest and lowest incomes to less
than 5 times (right axis)
Indicator 10.1.2: Reduce the income gap between the districts with the highest and lowest incomes by 12%
Indicator 10.1.3: Avoid increasing the income gap between Barcelona and the rest of the BMA. Maintain the gap below
EUR 1,511.5
30,000 10.0 Average net annual
27,711.4 income per capita
9.0 Housing Plan
25,000 25,050.2
22,044.2 8.0 Average net annual
7.0 income per capita
20,000 6.5
5.9 6.2 of the BMA
5.6 6.0
5.0 Absolute distance
15,000 5.0 between the five
neighbourhoods with
4.0 the highest DHI per
10,000
3.0 capita and the five
neighbourhoods with
2.0 the lowest DHI
5,000 1,511.5 1,290.5
1,350.2 1,201.0 1,511.5 1.0 Difference in net
annual income per
0 0.0 capita between BCN
015 016 017 8 9 0 1
2 2 2 201 201 202 202 2022 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
202 202 202 202 202 202 202 203 and the rest of the
BMA
Source 10.1.1 and 10.1.3: IERMB. Municipal survey on living conditions.
Source 10.1.2: Municipal Data Office. Territorial breakdown of disposable household income per capita in Barcelona
81
Graph 68: Inequality of income distribution
(territorial comparative)
Indicator: Relative gap between the 20% of the population with the highest disposable household income
per capita and the 20% with the lowest
8.0
7.0 6.9 6.6 6.6
6.0 6.2 6.5
6.0 6.0 5.9 6.0
5.4
5.9 5.2 5.8
5.7 5.6 5.4
5.0 5.4
5.2 5.2 5.0 5.1 5.0 4.9
4.0
3.0
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Barcelona Catalonia Spain European Union-27
Note: The data for Barcelona are calculated by combining samples from two consecutive years; 2016-2017, 2017-2018,
2018-2019, 2019-2020.
Source: IERMB and Idescat. Survey on Living Conditions.
Reducing inequalities is crucial to fulfilling one of ropolitan Area as a whole has been progressive-
the basic principles of the 2030 Agenda (leave no ly narrowing between 2016 and 2019. In 2019, 
one behind). A common indicator of inequality is this difference was €1,201.00, €310.50 less than 
the 80/20 ratio, which measures the gap between in 2016.
the richest 20% of the population and the poorest 
20% in terms of income. After experiencing pro- 10.2 Promote social, 
gressive increases from 2017 to 2019, in 2020 the economic and political 
value fell to 5.6. This means that the disposable 
income of the richest 20% is 5.6 times the dis- inclusion for all
posable income of the poorest 20%. If compared 
territorially (Graph 68), it can be seen that the esti- The percentage of the population at risk of 
mated levels of inequality in Barcelona in 2030 will poverty and social exclusion in Barcelona 
be very similar to those for Catalonia as a whole was 21.6% in 2020, 1% lower than the pre-
(6.0) and Spain (5.8). vious year. It is an improvement, but there is 
still a long way to go to reduce it to the 15% 
Territorial inequality in income distribution proposed for the 2030 target. From a territo-
is calculated on the basis of the distance be- rial perspective (Figure 70), the AROPE rate 
tween the five neighbourhoods with the high- in Barcelona in 2020 was at European Union 
est disposable household income per capita levels (21.6%), while in Catalonia and Spain 
and the five neighbourhoods with the lowest that same year it was much higher, 26.7% and 
income. In this case, from 2018 to 2019 the 27%, respectively.
gap increased by 10.6%, from €25,050.20 to 
€27,711.40, which clearly widens the gap with Social inclusion has a lot to do with autonomy, 
regards the desired target. The time series does i.e. the ability to act and participate in social 
not go back any further because from 2018 a life. This is why the phenomenon of loneliness 
new income estimation methodology was in- should not be an obstacle to personal well-be-
troduced, based on data from the Tax Agen- ing and social inclusion. In Barcelona, the per-
cy. This subject is explored in detail in the re- ception of loneliness among the adult popula-
port “Household incomes in Barcelona. 2019: tion affected 10.8% of women and 8.6% of men. 
Distribution by districts, neighbourhoods and Furthermore, greater attention should be paid to 
census sections”. the effects of isolation and relational loneliness 
in the elderly, an issue that women suffer more 
Finally, the difference in average net annual in- intensely. In 2021, the perception of loneliness in 
come between Barcelona and the Barcelona Met- the population over 64 years of age was 9.1% in 
82
Graph 69: Social inclusion and the perception of loneliness
Indicator 10.2.1: Reduce the AROPE rate (people at risk of poverty and/or social exclusion) to under 15%
Indicator 10.2.2a: Reduce the perception or feeling of loneliness to less than 6% for adults
Indicator 10.2.2b: Reduce the perception or feeling of loneliness to less than 6% for adults over the age of 64
Indicator 10.2.3: Reduce the perception of loneliness in the young population (15 to 34 years old)
30.0%
25.0% 23.1% 23.5% 22.60%
21.60%
20.0%
15.0%
15.0%
10.8% (Women)
10.0% 9.1% (Women)
8.6% (Men)
5.3% (Men) 6.0%
5.0%
4.1%
0.0%
6-17
7-18
8-19 -20 020 021 022 023 024 025
9 2 2 2 2 2 2 2026 7 8 9 0
01 01 01 01 202 202 202 203
2 2 2 2
Source 10.2.1: IERMB. Municipal survey on living conditions.
Source 10.2.2a and 10.2.2b: Barcelona Public Health Agency. Barcelona Health Survey.
Source 10.2.3: Area of Social Rights. Barcelona Youth Survey.
Graph 70: AROPE rate (territorial comparison)
40.0%
35.0%
30.0% 27.5% 27.3% 26.2% 26.7%
25.0% 24.5% 24.9% 23.6% 27.0%
23.1%
20.0% 22.4% 21.6%
23.5% 22.6% 21.6%
21.7% 21.1%
15.0%
10.0%
2017 2018 2019 2020
Barcelona Catalonia Spain EU-27
Note: The data for Barcelona are calculated by combining samples from two consecutive years; 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019,
2019-2020.
Source: IERMB and Idescat. Survey on Living Conditions.
women and 5.3% in men. Another very vulnera- the city of Barcelona (also studying its impact 
ble group to the effects of unwanted loneliness on specific groups, such as people with disa-
are young people. In 2020, the Barcelona Youth bilities) and has drawn up a 2020-2030 Munic-
Survey revealed that 4.1% of young people be- ipal Strategy against Homelessness, developed 
tween 15 and 34 years of age felt lonely often or through action plans and communicated with the 
very often. support of the Barcelona Against Homelessness 
monthly bulletin.
Unwanted loneliness is a growing phenomenon 
in our society, which has a negative impact on 10.3 Greater equality of 
health and causes a loss of opportunities and opportunities and zero 
quality of life. The City Council has thorough-
ly evaluated the incidence of homelessness in tolerance of discrimination
83
Graph 71: Inclusion in cultural life
Indicator 10.3.1a: Reduce the difference in the use of public libraries by 50% between the population with a low socio-economic level and
the general population
Indicator 10.3.1b: Reduce the difference in attendance at folk festivals by 50% between the low socio-economic level population and
the general population
Indicator 10.3.1c: Reduce the difference in attendance at cultural activities by 50% between the low socio-economic level population and
the general population
30%
26.6%
23.7%
25% 23.9%
22.4%
21.1%
20%
16.5% 16.1% 14.4% 16.4%
15% 14.8%
13.8% 13.2%
11.7% 14.0% 11.9%
10% 8.3%
9.5%
5.9%
5%
0%
016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2028 029 030
2 2
Source: Municipal Services Survey.
Participation in the cultural life of the city is very space: right to access and cultural participation 
often related to people’s socio-economic possi- in the street: government measure; seven: Cul-
bilities, which in practice makes equal access to ture and digital rights: instruments and policies 
cultural services and activities impossible. This for access to knowledge, transparency and dig-
is why one of the targets for 2030 is to extend ital innovation; eight: Museums of the city: inno-
and promote the use of cultural services and vation, education and the right to participate in 
activities to the entire population. After having Barcelona’s cultural heritage; and nine: Barce-
experienced improvements between 2016 and lona’s libraries (Master Plan 2030). The right to 
2021, in 2022 the lower socio-economic popu- read, to access information and knowledge and 
lation lost ground in the use of public libraries, to foster new creative practices (still in the work-
attendance at public festivals and attendance at ing document phase).
cultural activities. In this case, the gap is enor-
mous, 26.6 points, more than double the target An indispensable element for social inclusion 
set for 2030. is to provide everyone with opportunities to 
develop their own life. With this aim in mind, the 
During this term of office, the promotion of cul- Municipal Programme for Independent Living 
ture has been addressed from the perspective provides the means for people with disabilities to 
of cultural rights, through the Making Culture live as independently as possible and to decide 
Plan, deployed through nine specific govern- where and with whom they want to live. The num-
ment measures, which touch on issues that also ber of people benefiting from these programmes 
affect SDGs 1, 4, 5, 9 and 11. One: Culture in reached 1,869 in 2021, more than three times the 
the neighbourhoods and community action: the number in 2017 and well above the target set for 
right to cultural practices and new centralities; 2030.
two: Grassroots culture and cultural sectors: 
the right to creation, experimentation, research Disability, with a wide variety of causes and 
and cultural production; three: Popular cultures: degrees, is a situation that increasingly affects 
the right to popular and traditional practices as more and more people around the world. In Bar-
spaces for participation and social cohesion: celona in 2019, 9.28% of the population had 
a governmental measure; four: Culture and edu- some kind of recognised disability. The 2022-
cation: the right to cultural participation and life- 2030 Barcelona Strategy for Universal Acces-
long artistic education and practice; five: Femi- sibility was approved during this mandate. The 
nist culture: the right to a diverse culture and the Report by the Municipal Institute for People with 
right to a culture of diversity and social cohesion: Disabilities gives an account of municipal action 
a government measure; six: Culture and public in this area.
84
Graph 72: Inclusion and discrimination
Indicator 10.3.2: Increase the number of people with a disability benefiting from personal autonomy and independent
living programmes to above 1,000
Indicator 10.3.3: Reduce the number of discrimination complaints collected by the Board of Organisations for the Assistance
of Victims of Discrimination to below 200
Indicator 10.3.4a: Reduce the perception of discrimination to less than 15%. Boys (right axis)
Indicator 10.3.4b: Reduce the perception of discrimination to less than 15%. Girls (right axis)
2,000 74.6% 80%
1,869
1,800 70%
1,600
56.2% 60%
1,400
1,200 50%
1,000
1,000 40%
30.7%
800 30%
600 602
21.7% 411 436 504
605 20%
400 15.0%
265
200 10%
200
0 0%
2015 016
2 2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024 5 6 7 8 9 0
202 202 202 202 202 203
Note 10.3.4: Measure the % of secondary school students who in the last 12 months have suffered some type of discrimination
on the grounds of disability, sexual orientation, origin or gender. Source 10.3.2: Area of Social Rights. Barcelona City Council.
Source 10.3.3: Barcelona Discrimination Observatory
Source 10.3.4: Barcelona Public Health Agency. Risk Factors in Secondary School Students (FRESC)
With regard to the discrimination that young ad- grounds from the Barcelona housing rental mar-
olescents may suffer, whether it is due to gender, ket. In terms of municipal actions, in addition to 
origin, disability, sexual orientation or other rea- those already mentioned in SDG 5, the most im-
sons, the latest data published by the Factors of portant has been the government measure For an 
Risk in Secondary Schools Survey (FRESC) in anti-racist Barcelona 2022-2025.
2021 indicate an exponential increase in the per-
centage of adolescents who feel discriminated 
against for any reason. We are talking about an 
incidence already clearly in the majority (74.6% of 
girls and 56.2% of boys), and well above the target 
for 2030, which is 15%. 
Meanwhile, the number of complaints concerning 
discrimination collected by the Barcelona Discrim-
ination Observatory has almost doubled in three 
years, to over 500. The indicator is not, in itself, 
as negative as the previous one, because one 
of the objectives of the entities that form part of 
the Roundtable of Entities with a Care Service for 
Victims of Discrimination is to report situations 
of discrimination.
The annual balance prepared by the Office for 
Non-Discrimination provides more information on 
this problem, which can be complemented with 
studies such as the 2020 Survey on Neighbour-
hood Relations and Coexistence: Report on dis-
crimination in the neighbourhoods of Barcelona 
and Discrimination à la carte: exclusion on ethnic 
85
Graph 73: Social expenditure and inclusion strategy
Indicator 10.4.1a: Maintain the City Council’s necessary expenditure on social services and social promotion (€ per inhabitant)
Indicator 10.4.1b: Maintain City Council’s necessary expenditure on social services and social promotion (% over total, right axis)
Indicator 10.4.2: Provide a city strategy for social inclusion and reducing social inequalities until 2030
250.0 229.3 20.0%
211.5 211.8 230.8 18.0%
190.4
200.0 185.3 16.0%
13.9%
160.6 12.9% 12.7% 14.0%
150.0 11.5% 13.0% 12.0%
9.2%
11.0% 10.0%
100.0 8.0%
6.0%
50.0 4.0%
2.0%
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0.0 0.0%
2015 016 017 018 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
2 2 2 201 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 203
Source: Barcelona City Council. Open budget.
10.4 Municipal commitment to 10.7 Barcelona, a city of refuge 
equality and social-inclusion and inclusion
The City Council has progressively increased Poverty and unemployment do not affect people 
the portion of its budget earmarked for funding equally depending on their socio-demographic 
social services and other social promotion pro- characteristics. This means that people’s origin 
grammes. In 2020, the year of the health and so- can make it more difficult for them to be social-
cial emergencies, it accounted for 14% of the to- ly included, as they are at greater risk of poverty, 
tal budget. In terms of expenditure per inhabitant, unemployment or job insecurity. In the case of the 
it has risen from €160.60 per inhabitant in 2015 risk of poverty and social exclusion, it can be seen 
to €230.80 per inhabitant in the 2021 budget. that the foreign population is much more exposed 
Furthermore, the City Council has a strategy for than the Spanish population. The situation has 
inclusion and the reduction of social inequalities improved since 2017, but the reduction has been 
that guides the distribution of these resources. very modest. In the case of the employment rate, 
This is done in collaboration with the organisa- we can see that in 2020 and 2021 the difference 
tions that participate in the citizen agreement for widened even more than in previous years, reaching 
an inclusive Barcelona. 30 points. The reasons for this deterioration are 
diverse, but one of the most important is the 
impact of Covid-19 on the labour market, which 
has affected sectors, such as tourism, where the 
foreign workforce is over-represented.
Graph 74: Poverty, inclusion and employment among the foreign population
Indicator 10.7.1: Reduce the difference in the AROPE rate between foreign nationals and Spanish nationals
Indicator 10.7.2: Reduce the difference in the employment rate (people aged 20 to 64) between foreign nationals and Spanish nationals
35% 30.3% 31.8%
31.2% 29.3%
25%
15%
5% 0% 0%
-5% 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
-15% -18.5% -16.7%
-22.3% -21.2%
-25%
-23.7% -29.8%
-35% -30.3%
-45%
Source 10.7.1: IERMB. Municipal survey on living conditions.
Source 10.7.2: Municipal Data Office. Active Population Survey.
86
Graph 74 bis: Access to public employment for the foreign population
Indicator 10.7.3: Percentage of the municipal workforce who were born abroad
2.00%
1.60%
1.20%
1.26%
1.06%
0.98%
0.80% 0.86%
0.73%
0.40%
0.00%
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Source: Manager’s Office for People and Organisational Development. Barcelona City Council.
By contrast, the presence of foreign-born workers The most recent studies on this subject deal with 
in the public sector is still very low. They represent the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the migrant 
about 1% of the City Council’s workforce, far be- population in Barcelona, as well as the situation 
low its real weight in the population of Barcelona. of young migrants without family ties in the city 
It continues to increase, but still at an excessively of Barcelona. The monograph on immigration 
low rate. published by the magazine Barcelona societat is 
also noteworthy.
During this term of office, the 2021-2030 Barcelona 
Interculturality Plan was approved, on the basis 10.b. Develop international 
of which the Ciutat Vella district has its own cooperation for the promotion 
Action Plan for 2022-2025. Also noteworthy is the 
2020-2023 Work Plan of the Barcelona Municipal of equality and the fight against 
Immigration Council (in the process of becoming racism and discrimination
the Municipal Council for Migration and Refugees). 
See SDG 17, target 2.
87
Budgetary effort indicators
The budgetary effort indicators show that the cur- deployed throughout the city. In contrast, investment 
rent expenditure dedicated to SDG 10 is consider- expenditure is between 5% and 6% of the total. 
able, close to 10% of the total (more than EUR 200 
million), although in the last year there has been In terms of analysis of municipal expenditure, the 
a slight drop (of around EUR 10 million and 1 per- report on budgetary investment in children in the 
centage point). These are services and programmes 2021 municipal budgets is of interest.
Current expenditure on SDG 10
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
400 10.0%
9.3%
350 9.3% 9.5%
300 9.0%
8.4%
250 8.5%
200 8.0%
150 7.5%
100 217 219.5 208.7 7.0%
50 6.5%
0 6.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 10
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
150 10.0%
9.0%
125 6.7% 8.0%
6.3% 7.0%
100
5.5% 5.8%
6.0%
75 5.0%
3.5% 135.6
4.0%
50
3.0%
50.8 2.0%
25
32.1 41.5
1.0%
11.2
0 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
88
89
SDG11 sustainable
cites and
communities
Make cities and 
human settlements 
inclusive, safe, resilient 
and sustainable
90
Targets and indicators for utilities) remain stable at around 15%. The 2030 
Barcelona target is achievable, because the aim is to contain 
the problem. 
11.1 Affordable housing for all The 2030 Agenda includes a much more ambitious 
target to reverse the historical deficit in the supply 
Situations of housing strain (a population that of social housing in Barcelona. In 2015, only 1.3% 
spends more than 40% of its income on rent and of the total number of residential dwellings were in 
Graph 75: Access to housing
Indicator 11.1.1: Get the proportion of households that suffer excessive expenditure on housing to less than 14%
Indicator 11.1.2: Increase the city’s stock of protected rental housing to 5% of the total number of residential dwellings
Indicator 11.1.3: Get the number of evictions down towards zero (right axis)
18% 4,000
15.3%15.7%
16% 15.1% 15.0% 3,500
3,098 14.0% Evictions: Number of eviction
14% 2,691 orders due to other reasons
3,000
2,519
12% 2,381
2,125 2,500 Evictions: Number of eviction
10% orders due to unpaid mortgage
1755 2,000
8%
1028 1,500 Evictions: Number of eviction
6% 5.0% orders due to unpaid rent
4% 1,000
1.4% Total evictions
2% 1.3% 500
1.4%
0% 1.3% 1.3% 1.4% 0
0
015 016 017 018 019
2 2 2 2 2 2020
2021 022
2 2023 024 025 026 027 028 029
2 2 2 2 2 2 2030
Source 11.1.1: IERMB. Municipal survey on living conditions.
Source 11.1.2: Municipal Data Office.
Source 11.1.3: General Council of the Judiciary.
Graph 76: Inadequate housing (territorial perspective)
Indicator: % of the population living in substandard housing
20.0%
18.0% 17.8%
16.0% 17.5% 17.1% 17.1%
14.0%
12.9%
12.0% 11.9%
12.5%
10.0% 8.2%
8.0% 7.2%
7.6%
6.7%
6.0% 5.2%
4.0% 5.1% 5.9%
4.7%
2.0%
0.0%
2017 2018 2019 2020
Barcelona Catalonia Spain EU-27
Note 1: It is considered that a person lives in substandard conditions if the house does not have at least one room for the whole family,
as well as a room for a couple, for each person over 18 years old, for a couple of adolescents (from 12 to 17 years old) of the same
sex, for each adolescent of different sexes and for a couple of children (under 12 years old).
Note 2: The data for Barcelona are calculated by combining samples from two consecutive years; 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019,
20192020.
Source: IERMB and Idescat. Survey on Living Conditions.
91
social housing. As can be seen in the graph, there Housing is a basic issue for the city, and it has 
is a positive trend, but in 2020 progress was still been studied from many different angles. In this 
too slow. vein, the reports carried out by the Metropolitan 
Housing Observatory of Barcelona highlight the 
The indicator that shows a more favourable sit- impact of Covid-19 and the inflationary crisis, on 
uation is the one that refers to the number of the structure and concentration of home owner-
evictions, which fell from 3,098 in 2015 to 1,755 ship, on strategies and potential for rehabilitation 
in 2021. There is still some way to go to reach (considering the urban model and the European 
the target of 0 evictions, but the trend is prom- context), on areas of opportunity for urban regen-
ising. The moratorium decreed in the wake eration (affordable housing and neighbourhood fa-
of the pandemic has had a lot to do with this, but cilities) and on residential vulnerability in the neigh-
also with the work of the Loss of Housing and/or bourhoods of the Besòs. This study on housing 
Employment Intervention Service (SIPHO), which precariousness and health is also of interest.
provides information, support and legal advice to 
households affected by a homelessness situa- 11.2 More eco-mobility, based 
tion. on a sustainable and inclusive 
The lack of access to housing for many people public transport system of the 
also causes situations of overcrowding due to highest quality
insufficient space in dwellings, which tend to be 
more frequent in large cities. The good situation of Unfortunately, the indicator that measures 
Spain in relation to the European Union as a whole eco-mobility by estimating the proportion of 
is remarkable, although it seems that the gap journeys made by means of transport only has 
is narrowing. data up to 2018. However, there is the Municipal 
Services Survey, which shows that the percent-
The 2016-2025 Plan for the right to housing is age of citizens who say that their main means 
the reference document for municipal policy. The of transport is by car or motorbike has hardly 
actions derived from this strategy are explained changed since 2015. The increase in walking, 
in detail in the annual balance of the Plan and in cycling and skateboarding has offset the fall in 
the reports of the Municipal Institute of Housing public transport users, who have not yet fully 
and Rehabilitation and the Housing Consortium, recovered from the crisis of confidence gener-
which you will find in this section on housing doc- ated during the pandemic. The performance of 
umentation. The impact of Law 24/2015 and other this indicator, which is crucial for air quality and 
measures in response to housing exclusion have the fight against climate change, will need to be 
also been analysed. closely monitored.
Graph 77: Use of means of transport
Indicator 11.2.1: EcoMobility (proportion of journeys made using public transport or non-motorised private transport)
Indicator 11.2.5: Means of transport most frequently used to get to the main activities
100.0%
90.0% 81.5% Private vehicle
74.9% (cars/motorbikes)
80.0% 73.9% 73.9% 74.4%
70.0% 66.1% 66.4% 64.2% 64.6% 65.4% Taxis
57.4% 58.1% 61.2%
60.0% Metro/bus/
50.0% train/tram
40.0% Bicycles and
scooters
30.0%
20.0% 16.6% 17.6% 17.3% 17.1% 17.0% 18.7% 17.9% 16.8% Walking
10.9% 9.3% 9.1% 9.9% 8.7% 12.2% 13.2% 12.4%
10.0%
9.9% Ecomobility
9.3%
0.0% 5.2% 5.4% 6.3% 6.4% 7.3% 7.8%
015 016 017 018 019 020 021 2 3 4
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 202 202 202
Source 11.2.1: Area of Urban Ecology. Barcelona Sustainability Indicators.
Source 11.2.5: Municipal Services Survey.
92
Graph 78: Rating of the public transport system
Indicator 11.2.2: Maintain the service-user evaluation of types of public transport at above 7.5 out of 10
Indicator 11.2.2a: Rating of metro users (scale 0-10)
Indicator 11.2.2b: Rating of urban bus users (scale 0-10)
Indicator 11.2.2c: Rating of BICING users (scale 0-10)
Indicator 11.2.2d: Rating of tram users (scale 0-10)
8.5
8.3
8.1
8.1
7.9 7.9 8.0
7.9
7.7 7.7
7.7 7.6 7.9 7.8 7.6 7.6
7.5 7.5
7.5 7.5
7.2 7.3 7.5 7.5 7.4
7.3 7.2 7.2 7.2
7.2 7.3 7.2 7.5
7.1 7.2
7.1
6.9 7.1
7.0
6.9
6.7
6.5
015
2 2016 7
201 2018 019 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
2 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 203
Source: Municipal Services Survey.
Graph 79: Sustainability and inclusion in transport
Indicator 11.2.3: Achieve 100% electrification of the bus fleet.
Indicator 11.2.4: Carry out over 350,000 journeys/year in the door-to-door service for people with disabilities
400,000 358,747 347,975 100.0%
348,012 348,238
350,000
80.0%
300,000 331,055 274,265 350,000
250,000 60.0%
200,000
150,000 188,195 40.0%
100,000
20.0%
50,000 0.8% 2.6%
0 0.0%
015 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
2 201 201 201 201 202 202 202 202 202 2025 026 027 028 029 0
2 2 2 2 203
Source 11.2.3: Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB).
Source 11.2.4: Area of Social Rights.
Quality public transport is essential to reduce the 2021, the percentage of fully electric TMB buses 
use of private motorised transport. This is why stood at 2.6% of the fleet, representing very slow 
public transport user satisfaction must be main- progress. However, it is foreseeable that these 
tained at the highest possible levels. The graph percentages will increase rapidly, considering 
shows that in 2022 almost all means of public the municipal government’s decision to earmark 
transport equalled or exceeded the score of 7.5 European funds for the mass purchase of this type 
out of 10, with the exception of urban bus, which of vehicle.
was one tenth of a point short (7.4). The highest 
score was 8.0 for the tramway. In addition to being sustainable, public transport 
must be inclusive and adapted to people with 
Making the bus fleet 100% sustainable is a very reduced mobility. In line with this, the special public 
ambitious but necessary challenge. By the end of transport service for people with severe reduced 
93
mobility, also known as the “door-to-door” ser- 11.3 Achieve a change in urban 
vice, is a complementary service to that of regular model through social consensus 
public transport, when the available service is not 
adapted. The number of journeys made using this in order to attain healthier 
system remained fairly stable until 2019, at around and more sustainable public 
350,000 journeys. For health reasons similar to 
those affecting public transport systems, there spaces, especially in areas 
was a significant drop in the number of services of surrounding schools
this type in 2020 and 2021.
The renovation of the urban fabric with the aim of 
The 2024 Urban Mobility Plan updates the mu- extending the stretches of green areas is one of 
nicipal mobility strategy. Everyone is aware that the most important commitments in terms of the 
mobility has to change, because the levels of urban model. In 2020, the total length of the green 
air pollution are no longer tolerable (see targets stretches will reach 60.30 km. The expectation 
3.9 and 11.6) and because Barcelona is commit- is to be able to reach 64.30 km in 2023 and the 
ted to drastically and rapidly reducing its green- 91.74 km planned for 2030.
house gas emissions (see target 13.2). Measures 
have been taken on a metropolitan scale, such as The new urban model also prioritises the creation 
the Low Emission Zone (LEZ), which will have to of protected school areas, adding more quality 
be adjusted in line with the evaluation of the re- public space to improve safety and reduce pol-
sults and in an attempt to ensure that they are lution. An initial target has been proposed, with 
compatible with economic activity needs3. If the a deadline of 2025, consisting of improving the 
aim is to reduce the presence of vehicles with urban area of at least 200 schools, with a view 
combustion engines on Barcelona’s streets, it is to subsequently completing the actions in all the 
crucial to promote and at the same time regulate schools in Barcelona. The data indicate that the 
the means of transport that are to replace them. first target is being met at a good pace, as by 2022 
This has been done through measures such as the a total of 129 schools will have benefited.
Electric Mobility Strategy and the Traffic Regula-
tions for personal mobility vehicles. The impacts The Barcelona Superblock measure to regen-
have been analysed in studies such as the study erate Barcelona and its neighbourhoods is the 
on Coexistence on public roads derived from the main strategic document of the new urban model. 
implementation of the cycle network in Barcelona. The guide to sustainability and urban planning 
Graph 80: Green streets and protected school environments
Indicator 11.3.1: Extend the stretches of green streets in the urban area of Barcelona to 64.30 km in 2023 and to 91.74 km by 2030.
Indicator 11.3.2: Multiply by 10 the number of schools undergoing urban-planning interventions to generate protected environments (target 2025)
300
Number of schools with protected environments Green streets (km)
250
200
200
150 129
101
100 91.74
60.30 64.30
50 26
0
020
2 2021
2022 023 024 5 6 7 8 9 0
2 2 202 202 202 202 202 203
Note: green areas are pacified streets, with priority for pedestrians, and with areas for relaxation and more greenery, which allow you
to move on foot easily, comfortably and safely.
Source: Manager’s Office for Urban Ecology (Urban Model Area).
3  A l’article To what extent the traffic restriction policies applied in Barcelona city can improve its air quality?, publicat a la revista 
Science of The Total Environment s’aporten evidències per afirmar que les polítiques de restricció del trànsit adoptades fins 
ara, com la zona de baixes emissions, poden canviar els llocs on s’acumula la contaminació, però no reduir-la de forma 
global. Els autors argumenten que això només es pot aconseguir amb una reducció de la demanda de transport privat i la 
renovació dels vehicles.
94
criteria (More Sustainable Urban Planning) and 
the Green Hub Model (The new street of the 21st 
century) update the technical knowledge needed 
to move in the desired direction. The Report by 
the Municipal Institute of Urban Planning provides 
a better understanding of the actions carried out for 
urban improvement. 
11.4 Improve the protection, 
accessibility and knowledge of 
singular heritage and identity 
features of Barcelona and 
its neighbourhoods
Facilitating access to the city’s most significant 
heritage sites is essential both from the point of 
view of social inclusion and from the perspective The Government Measure Barcelona, Heritage 
of knowing and sharing the unique heritage ele- City brings together a series of actions that take 
ments and the identity of Barcelona and its neigh- a fresh look at the traditional concept of heritage 
bourhoods. To make this possible, it is necessary to take into account values linked to everyday 
to facilitate physical access to museums and life in the neighbourhoods and the fight against 
exhibition centres, for example, through free or climate change. A second recent and important 
reduced admission. In 2021, 68% of the total measure is dedicated to preserving and promoting 
number of visitors gained access in this way. emblematic commercial establishments.
It is also important to adapt the dissemination of For further information, see “2020 Digital Indica-
heritage elements to the media and cultural forms tors”, conceived as a new approach to (cultural) 
of the digital society in order to guarantee better data in times of pandemic. It is also worth consult-
access to them. In line with this idea, the number ing the report by the Barcelona Municipal Archive 
of items in the city’s collection of documents that to see how it manages and disseminates docu-
are accessible online has been growing. mentary heritage using digital society criteria.
Graph 81: Accessibility to museums and digitisation of heritage items
Indicator 11.4.1: The number of people/total visitors that have entered public museums and exhibition centres either
at a discount price or free of charge
Indicator 11.4.2: Number of pieces of the collections accessible online
70.0% 100,000
69.0% 99,000
68.0% 67.0% 68.0% 98,000
67.0% 96,716 97,000
66.0% 96,000
65.0% 96,007 95,000
64.0% 94,000
63.0% 93,000
62.0% 92,000
61.0% 91,000
60.0% 90,000
020
2 2021
2022 023 4 5 6
2 202 202 202 2027 028
2 2029 0
203
Note: 2030 target pending definition.
Source: ICUB.
95
11.5 Maximum protection 
for people and prevention of 
material damage during severe 
climate episodes
Graph 82: Protection of people and prevention of material damage
in the face of severe climatic events
Indicator 11.5.1: Economic losses caused by water-related disasters (millions of euros)
25.0
22.3
20.0
15.0
11.3
10.0 8.9
7.5 8.7
5.4 6.2
5.0 4.4
2.7 3.0 2.6 3.3
0.9 1.2 0.2 1.2 1.0 1.3
0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.1
0.0
996 997 998 999 000 001 002
1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2003 004
2 2005 006 007 008 009 010 011 2
2 2 2 2 2 2 201 2013 014 015 016
2 2 2 2017 8 9 0
201 201 202 2021
Note 1: It includes economic losses due to sea battering, flooding and atypical storms.
Note 2: 2030 target pending definition.
Source: Barcelona Cicle de l’Aigua, SA.
In addition to preventive and climate adaptation Municipal action on this issue is enshrined in doc-
actions, it is necessary to have the necessary uments such as the 2014-2025 Fire Prevention, 
resources and provisions in place to deal with Fire Fighting and Rescue Service Master Plan and 
disaster situations, while minimising personal the government measure Emergency manage-
and material damage. In the last 25 years, water- ment, tools for Barcelona’s resilience. 
related events have not caused significant damage, 
except for the EUR 22.3 million in 2020, caused by 11.6 Barcelona will comply 
storm Glòria. Unfortunately, there is still no com- with the air-quality thresholds 
plete information on the effects of heat waves and 
episodes of drought. recommended by the WHO
Graph 83: Concentration of air pollutants
Indicator 11.6.1a: NO2: Less than 40 µg/m3 (annual maximum average)
Indicator 11.6.1b: PM10: Less than 20µg/m3 (annual city average)
Indicator 11.6.1c: PM2.5: Less than 10µg/m3 (annual city average)
80.0
70.0
60.0
50.0
43.0 39.0 42.0 37.9
40.0 35.8 40.0
30.0 28.0
25.4 26.7 26.7
27.0
20.0 24.0 24.1 17.7 22.6 20.0
10.0 17.1 13.8 15.5 15.6 14.0 13.0 10.0
0.0
015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 029 030
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Source: Area of Urban Ecology. Barcelona Sustainability Indicators.
96
Graph 84: Concentration of PM2.5 in the air (territorial comparison)
20.00
18.00 17.7
17.1
16.00 15.5 15.6
15.8 14.6 14.9
14
14.00 13.5
14.2 13.8 14.3 14.5
14.4
12.00 13 13.3 12.6 12.8
12.1
11.3 11.7 11.8
10.00
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Barcelona Catalonia Spain European Union-27
Units: µg/m3
Source Catalonia: Ministry of Territory and Sustainability. Source Spain and the European Union: Eurostat.
Source Barcelona: Area of Urban Ecology. Barcelona Sustainability Indicators.
The average air concentration levels of NO2, PM10 concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) 
and PM2.5 particles from 2015 to 2019 decreased was above the maximum level of 10.0 µg/m3 
in 2020 thanks to the stricter Covid-19 lockdown recommended by the WHO at all territorial levels. 
period. However, only in the case of NO2 did it 
fall below the maximum limit recommended by The main reference for this matter is the annual 
the WHO (40.0 µg/m3). Values of 22.6 µg/m3 of report Assessment of air quality in the city of Bar-
PM10 and 14.0 µg/m3 of PM2.5 were recorded celona. Also highly recommended is the Annual of 
that same year, 15.4% and 20.9% less than the pollution in Barcelona. The lockdowns and restric-
previous year, respectively. In 2021, still marked tions of the pandemic generated extraordinary 
by the Covid-19 restrictions, the presence of these effects on air quality and the lessons learned, 
pollutants remained at this level, significantly lower which are gathered in this report.
than in 2019 and below the legal maximum limits, 
but still clearly above the levels considered safe Noise pollution also has effects on the well-be-
by the World Health Organisation. Graph 84 also ing and health of citizens, as evidenced by the 
shows that in 2020, the annual weighted average Study Environmental noise and health in the city of 
Graph 85: Home that suffer from noise (territorial comparative)
24.0%
22.0% 21.6% 21.9%
21.0%
20.0%
19.5%
18.1% 18.2%
18.0% 17.5%
18.3% 17.6%
16.2% 17.0%
16.5%
16.0% 15.2% 17.3%
16.4%
15.7% 14.9%
14.0% 14.6% 15.2%
13.4% 14.1%
13.5%
12.0%
10.0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Barcelona Catalonia Spain European Union-27
Note: The data for Barcelona are calculated by combining samples from two consecutive years; 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019,
2019-2020.
Source: IERMB and Idescat. Survey on Living Conditions.
97
Barcelona. The proportion of the population (see pp. 64-67 of the Plan), with the aim of “mak-
declaring that they suffer from noise in their homes ing the Strategy more communicable and the 
reached 21% in Barcelona in 2020, a very similar commitment to change more palpable in the 
percentage to the 19.5% and 21.9% for Catalonia city”. A set of very specific indicators are estab-
and Spain that same year. lished for each of the targets, referring to the size, 
quality and elements available in the children’s play 
11.7 Greener and safer public areas. In future editions, the annual report of the 
spaces where people can play 2030 Agenda will include a synthetic indicator 
designed to measure the degree of implementation 
Improving the quality of public space involves, of the Plan.
among other things, increasing the amount of 
green space available in the city. From 2015 to 11.a Have a new Metropolitan 
2020 the non-forest green space increased by Urban-Planning Master Plan
0.42 km2 from 11.28 to 11.70 km2. The objec-
tive line in the graph indicates that adequate The Metropolitan Urban Development Mas-
progress is being made in this area. Enjoying ter Plan sets out the broad objectives and 
a clean city is very important in terms of the main guidelines regarding infrastructure, 
coexistence and the enjoyment of public space. green areas, urban fabric and open spaces 
Citizens’ assessment of the street cleaning ser- to be developed over the next 20 years in the 
vice could be a good indicator in this respect, 36 municipalities that make up the Barcelona 
as it is not easy to obtain objective measure- Metropolitan Area.
ments of this issue. It can be seen that the as-
sessment of this service has remained fairly The Barcelona Metropolitan Area is leading the 
stable between 2015 and 2021, with a negative technical and administrative process for imple-
spike in 2020. menting the metropolitan Urban Master Plan 
(PDU), which is to culminate in its definitive 
The strategy for improving public space is in- approval and publication, following the initial 
cluded in the measures mentioned in point 11.3 approval, strategic environmental declaration 
on the urban model, as well as in the 2022-2030 and provisional approval phases. The process is 
Barcelona Strategy for Universal Accessibility currently in the public scrutiny and the collection 
and the 2030 Barcelona Public Space Play Plan. of contributions and suggestions phase regard-
This plan, otherwise known as Barcelona as ing the PDU progress document. This document 
a playable city, is truly exemplary in the fact that determines the criteria under which the plan will 
it defines a set of measurable goals for 2030 be developed.
Graph 86: Quality of public space
Indicator 11.7.1: Increase non-woodland green areas by 1.6 Km2
Indicator 11.7.2: Rating of the street cleaning service over 7 (scale of 0-10)
14
12.88
11.31 11.36 11.45 11.65 11.70
12 11.28
10
8
6.5 6.7 6.7 6.7 6.5 6.4 7.0
6.1
6
4
2
0
2015 016
2 2017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 9
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 202 2030
.
Source 11.7.1: Municipal Data Office.
Source 11.7.2: Municipal Services Survey.
98
11.b Develop Barcelona’s urban recent years to promote and implement resilience 
resilience model actions both locally in Barcelona and in other cities 
around the world. Barcelona has offered itself as 
The impact of Covid-19 on cities has shown that a pilot city to test the City Resilience Profiling Tool 
it is necessary to apply a resilience perspective (CRPT). The risks, difficulties and opportunities 
in public decision-making, moving from a logic of the urban system have led to the definition of 
that is purely reactive to one of pre-preparedness a resilience profile for Barcelona centred on three 
and reducing vulnerabilities. Since 2019, the City priority themes: 1 - Right to decent housing and 
Council has been analysing the critical events access to basic services (SDGs 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 
that affect the city and its systems, with the aim and 11); 2 - Public space: accessibility, health, 
of measuring the impact they have on the various uses and social cohesion (SDG 11) and 3 - Pop-
urban services and designing responses that allow ulation ageing and demographic change (SDGs 1, 
for a better recovery. The evidence and knowledge 3, 5, 10 and 13).
generated during this process is compiled into 
a risk map through which decision-makers in 11.c Develop international 
municipal departments can analyse the main risks cooperation associated with 
that have recently affected the city, their capacity 
to manage them and the critical areas that need urban planning and housing
to be improved. The results are presented and 
debated at the Municipal Resilience Committee. See SDG 17, target 2.
Furthermore, Barcelona City Council and UN-Hab-
itat, through the City Resilience Global Pro-
gramme (CRGP), have worked closely together in 
99
Budgetary effort indicators
SDG 11 is the goal that accounts for the largest maintenance of public roads, mobility and housing. 
part of municipal expenditure, because it includes Current expenditure is almost a third of the total, 
some of the most important powers exercised while investment exceeds 40%.
by the City Council, such as urban planning, 
Current expenditure on SDG 11
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
1000 35.0%
950
900 32.0% 31.9% 33.0%
31.8%
850
800 31.0%
750
700 29.0%
650 791.5
740.6 754.5
600 27.0%
550
500 25.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 11
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
70 5.0%
60
4.0%
50 3.3%
2.5%
40 2.6% 2.6% 3.0%
2.2%
30 60.6
2.0%
20
1.0%
10 19.1 19.8
10.5 11.2
0 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
100
101
SDG12 responsible
consumption
and production
Ensure sustainable 
consumption and 
production patterns
The municipal document of reference for this City Council contributed elements of re-
SDG is the 2030 Strategy for the Social and flection to update these policies at the time. 
Solidarity Economy in Barcelona: reactivat- The Report on Municipal Consumer Servic-
ing and strengthening an economy for life in es provides systematic information on mu-
the city. The report on the green and circu- nicipal action to promote responsible and 
lar economy in the policies of the Barcelona sustainable consumption.
102
Targets and indicators for Barcelona
12.2 Achieve the 50-50-100 target 
for an efficient and sustainable 
use of natural resources
The proportion of municipal waste recovered 
(materially and energetically) has remained practi-
cally unchanged since 2015. If this inertia remains 
unchecked, it will not be possible to achieve the 
target of 50% by 2030.
(Indicator 12.1.1, on renewable energy, can be 
found in SDG 7, target 2). 
Graph 87: Renewable energy and recovery from waste
Indicator 12.2.1: Achieve that 50% of electricity consumption comes from renewable sources
Indicator 12.2.2: Achieve that 50% of municipal waste is recovered
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
50.0%
40.0% 41.8% 40.4% 42.9% 40.0% 50.0%
39.1% 39.9%
30.0%
20.7% 21.2%
20.0% 20.2%
10.0% 16.2% 16.5% 16.7%
0.0%
2015
2016 017
2 2018
2019
2020 1
202 2022 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
202 202 202 202 202 202 202 2030
Source 12.2.1: Area of Urban Ecology. Climate Plan.
Source 12.2.2: Area of Urban Ecology. Barcelona Sustainability Indicators.
12.3 Reduce food waste by 
half
Reducing food waste to a minimum is an obvious entirely feasible, because between 2015 and  2021 
and key step towards sustainable consumption. In it has already managed to reduce food waste by 
this area, the food recovery work carried out by 68%.  
the Barcelona Food Bank is of great importance. 
In 2021, they were able to make use of 10,880 The 2030 Strategy for Healthy and Sustainable 
tonnes of food in the province of Barcelona, a Food includes this objective, as does the 2015-
figure that represents 47% of the total amount of 2025 Strategic Plan for Barcelona Markets, but 
food that entered the Food Bank. In the same vein, with a lower profile. School canteens – the municipal 
Mercabarna, the main fresh food wholesale facilities that handle the most food – have been 
market, has adopted the commitment to achieve provided with an educational guide on food waste, 
zero waste by 2030. The figures show that this is called “Zero waste in school canteens now”.
103
Graph 88: Use of food at risk of being wasted
Indicator 12.3.1: Tonnes of food used by the Barcelona food bank that come from food waste (data for the province
of Barcelona)
12,000 70.0%
65.0%
11,000 Tons of food
10,774 10,880
60.0% used by the
Food
10,000 55.6%
52.8% 55.0% Bank
52.0% originating from
48.6%
9,000 47.2% 9,161 50.0% waste
48.8%
8,533 47.0%
8,456 45.0% % of the
8,000 8,114 total
7,874 40.0% entry of
food by the
7,000
35.0% Food
Bank
6,000 30.0%
2015
2016 7
201 2018
2019 0 1
202 202
Note: 2030 target pending definition.
Source: Barcelona Food Bank.
Graph 89: Food waste at Mercabarna
Indicator 12.3.2: Zero tonnes of food wasted at Mercabarna
10,000
9,400
9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000 3,000
2,000
1,000
0 0
015
2 2016 7
201 2018 019 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
2 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 2027
2028 029
2 2030
Source: Mercabarna.
The indicator for this target is not yet available.
There is a commitment by the city to the effective re-
duction of single-use plastics, the “Barcelona  Zero 
Plastic Commitment”, which is part of the Zero 
Waste strategy (see page 12.5). It was launched 
in 2019 by a group of organisations under the aus-
pices of the Citizen Council for Sustainability and 
as one of Barcelona City Council’s responses to 
12.4 Reduce the presence the climate emergency.
and impact of plastics and  
micro-plastics on the 12.5 A significant leap in the 
environment in Barcelona reduction and recycling of waste
104
In 2021, the level of selective waste collection in the collection, which should lead to a significant 
city as a whole stood at around 40%, which is  a improvement in the results. Just as important 
positive improvement, but still far from the target of as recycling, if not more important, is reducing 
65% set for 2030. The current waste collection sys- the generation of  solid urban waste. Graph 90 
tem does not seem to allow us to make the neces- also shows that after a  progressive increase 
sary leap to get there (and also to comply with Euro- from 2015 to 2019 to 1.34 kilograms per inhab-
pean regulations, which demand 50% by 2020, 55% itant per day, in 2020 there is a significant drop 
by 2025, 60% by 2030 and 65% by 2035).  It should (-11.2%) compared to the previous year to 1.19 
also be borne in mind that Barcelona’s recycling kg, mainly as a result of  the drastic reduction in 
rates are lower than those of Catalonia as a whole commercial waste. In 2021 this figure increased 
(45.9%) and the European Union (47.8%). slightly to 1.22 kg. 
Other collection systems are being studied Barcelona’s zero waste strategy sets out the lines 
and put into practice, such as door-to-door to follow in this area.
Graph 90: Waste generation and recycling
Indicator 12.5.1: Reduce the volume of collected solid urban waste down to 1.2 Kg./inhabitant/day (right axis)
Indicator 12.5.2: Achieve that 65% of solid urban waste is recycled
80.0% 1.50
1.45
70.0%
65.0% 1.40
1.35
1.34 1.35
60.0%
1.28 1.30 1.30
1.30
50.0% 1.25
1.22 1.20
1.19 1.20
40.0% 39.8% 1.15
39.5% 39.5%
36.2% 36.0% 36.4% 37.7% 1.10
30.0%
1.05
20.0% 1.00
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019 020 021 022 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
2 2 2 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 203
Source: Area of Urban Ecology. Barcelona Sustainability Indicators.
Graph 91: Waste recycling (territorial comparison)
50.0%
46.5% 46.9% 47.2% 48.1% 47.8%
44.9% 44.9% 45.9%
45.0%
41.7%
39.0% 39.9%
38.6% 39.5% 39.5%
40.0% 37.7%
36.4% 39.3%
35.0% 36.2% 36.0% 36.1% 36.4%
33.9% 34.8%
30.0%
30.0%
25.0%
20.0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Source: Catalonia: Department for Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda. Catalan Waste Agency.
Source: Spain and the European Union: Eurostat. Source: Barcelona: Area of Urban Ecology. Barcelona Sustainability Indicators.
105
Graph 92: Companies with environmental certificates
Indicator 12.6.1: More than 1,000 companies operating in Barcelona with environmental or social certifications
1,500
1,300
1,100
900 1,000
700
500 382
323
300 179 224 235 359
100
015 016 017 018 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
2 2 2 2 201 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 203
Source: Area of Urban Ecology. Barcelona Sustainability Indicators.
12.6 All large companies 12.7 Barcelona City Council’s 
operating in Barcelona public procurement will meet 
must have environmental all the standards established by 
certificates the United Nations concerning 
The number of current environmental and so- sustainable procurement 
cial certifications in Barcelona was 359 in (social, environmental and 
2020. The total number of companies, services economic clauses)
or  products with current sustainability certi-
fications has fallen for the first time since the The United Nations Environment Programme 
beginning of the time series, reversing a very (UNEP) has generated a methodology for 
promising trend towards the desired target for calculating a synthetic index for sustainable public 
the year 2030. It  remains to be seen to what procurement. In the first round, Barcelona City 
extent the pandemic  may have influenced this Council obtained 4.67 out of 5 points in 2019, the 
indicator, possibly due to less administrative highest score of all the administrations in the world 
activity. that presented their results.
Graph 93: Evaluation of municipal procurement with a sustainable perspective
Indicator 12.7.1: Achieve a score of 5 in the Sustainable public procurement synthetic index.
5
5.00
4.67
4
3
2
1
.
0
019 020
2 2 2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027 028 029 0
2 2 203
Source: One Planet Network Sustainable Public Procurement Programme
106
Graph 94: Committed entities and actions for sustainability
Indicator 12.8.1: Number of organisations that have joined the More Sustainable Barcelona network
Indicator 12.8.2: Number of sustainability actions and action plans
3,000 600
496 3,000 More
2,500 500 sustainable
464 Food
2,000 415 400 More
362 sustainable
entities and
1,500 307 300 communities
Total entities
1,334
1,000 170 200 adhered
173 1,144 Sustainability
954 sustainability
500 767
487 643 100 and action
444 plans
0 0
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
Source: Area of Urban Ecology. More Sustainable Barcelona.
Through their procurement and purchasing 12.a. Develop international 
policies, the public administrations can send cooperation for the promotion of 
signs and significantly influence the markets for 
goods and services. Since 2018, the City Council more sustainable consumption 
has approved an Annual plan of sustainable and production models
public procurement objectives and presented a 
Report on Sustainable Public Procurement. In See SDG 17, target 2.
parallel, the application of responsible public 
procurement has been studied in sectors such 
as health and in the overall supply chains of 
the City Council, in order to assess the needs 
to comply with the obligation to respect human 
rights.
12.8 The More Sustainable 
Barcelona Network will have 
3,000 member organisations 
committed to the 2030 Agenda
The number of entities, companies and businesses 
signing the Citizen Commitment for Sustainability 
has been increasing year after year. In 2021, there 
were already 1,334. It is also worth highlighting the 
sharp increase since 2015 in the good practices 
and action plans of these companies and organ-
isations in relation to sustainability, with a total 
of 496 in force by the end of 2021. Progress is 
being made at a good pace, but there is no room 
for complacency if the target of 3,000 entities is to 
be reached by 2030.
The 2030 Let’s Change for the Climate Plan 
(Barcelona’s sustainability culture strategy) 
identifies the need to involve new public and 
other types of entities in the fight for sustain-
ability. 
107
Budgetary effort indicators
The budgetary effort indicators show a level of expenditure is considerably lower, although in the 
current expenditure of between EUR 70 and last two years it has increased notably, reaching 
80 million per year, highly concentrated in waste around EUR 20 million a year.
collection and management services. Investment 
Current expenditure on SDG 12
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
90 4.0%
3.3% 3.5%
85
3.0%
2.5%
80 2.3%
2.5%
75 2.0%
82.7 1.5%
70
74.2 1.0%
65 70.5
0.5%
60 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 12
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
70 5.0%
60
4.0%
50 3.3%
2.5%
40 2.2% 2.6% 2.6% 3.0%
30 60.6
2.0%
20
1.0%
10 19.1 19.8
10.5 11.2
0 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
108
109
SDG13 climate
action
Take urgent action to 
combat climate change 
and its impacts
At the end of 2021, the City Council approved to combat it are updated every year through a 
the 2030 Climate Emergency Action Plan, the specific report. It is also advisable to read the 
result of merging (and updating) the 2018- dossier Tackling the climate emergency, pub-
2030 Climate Plan with the Climate Emergen- lished by the magazine Barcelona Metròpolis.
cy Declaration of January 2020. The climate 
emergency situation indicators and the action 
110
Targets and indicators for Barcelona cy due to climate change, lead to an increase in 
mortality and morbidity, especially in the most 
13.1 By 2030, 100% of the vulnerable groups, and particularly those people 
population will be less than who suffer more directly from the effects of heat, 
either because of their socio-economic situation 
300 metres from a climate or because of their health or age. 
refuge, and there will be a water 
garden in every district For this reason, starting in 2019, the City Council 
has been working on the creation of a network of 
climate refuge areas. The 202 climate shelters in 
The excessive and sustained heat waves, such as operation during the summer of 2022 meant that 
those expected to occur with increasing frequen- 95% of citizens had a climate refuge less than 
Graph 95: Climate shelters
Indicator 13.1.1: Proportion of the population that have a climate refuge less than a 10 minute walk from their home
100.0%
98.0% 100.0%
96.0%
95.0%
94.0%
92.0%
90.0%
88.0%
87.5%
86.0%
84.0%
82.0%
80.0%
021
2 2022 023
2 2024
2025
2026 027
2 2028
2029 030
2
Source: Area of Urban Ecology. Climate Plan.
Graph 96: Water in public areas
Indicator 13.1.2a: Water surface area of ornamental fountains in m2. (Right axis)
Indicator 13.1.2b: Number of drinking fountains
1,750 118,000
1,719 1,719
1,709
1,700
1,700 1,682 1,688 116,000
1,666
114,000
1,650 1,640
112,000
1,600
110,000
1,550
108,000
1,500 106,000
014 015 016 017 018 019
2 2 2 2 2 2 2020
2021
Note: 2030 target pending definition.
Source: Barcelona Cicle de l’Aigua, SA.
111
109,899
109,994
110,115
110,115
110,415
110,632
110,760
116,042
Graph 97: Greenhouse gas emissions Port and Airport
[x1000 tn CO2]
Indicator 13.2.1: Achieve at least a 50% reduction in GHG emissions compared to 1992
Treatment
treatment
4,000.0
3,565.4 [x1000 tn CO2]
3,455.5 3,460.2
3,500.0 3408.3 3,557.5
422.8 444.1 451.2 OTHERS
438.8 449.6
3,000.0 362.6 Clim [x1000 tn CO2]
316.2 346.8 364.2 360.2 ate Eme
2,740.8 rgency Action Plan scenario
2,500.0 266.3 TRANSPORT
1,032.7 962.6 949.5 297.1 European [x1000 tn CO2]
1,021.3  M
2,000.0 935.0 ission 2,367.2
 C
718.9 arbon Neutra INDUSTRIAL
1,500.0 285.6 289.5 261.8 288.6 289.3 l Cities sce [x1000 tn CO2]
265.2 nario
1,000.0 687.0 683.6 702.4 729.1 759.9
544.5 COMMERCIAL
[x1000 tn CO2]
500.0 701.6 760.4
664.7 696.5 736.5 645.5 DOMESTIC
0.0 [x1000 tn CO2]
015 016 017 018 019 020 021
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2022
2023
2024
2025
2026 7 8 9 0
202 202 202 203
EMISSIONS
TOTALS
Source: Area of Urban Ecology. Barcelona Sustainability Indicators. [x1000 tn CO2]
10 minutes’ walk from their homes. This repre- Cities are among the main emitters of green-
sents an increase of 7.5% on the previous year house gases (GHG) and therefore have a major 
and a  very important step towards reaching responsibility for preventing global warming. In 
100% of the population. the case of Barcelona, the 2030 Climate Emer-
gency Action Plan sets the target for reducing 
Adapting schools to climate change is essential emissions in 2030 at 50% compared to 1992, 
in order to protect children and, secondly, the limiting them to 2,367.2 million tonnes of CO2 
population as a whole, because schools equivalent. Between 2015 and 2019, a period 
are spaces spread throughout the city that of significant economic growth, GHG annu-
are very conducive to acting as climat- al emissions increased by more than 100,000 
ic refuges. A catalogue of solutions has been tonnes. In 2020, the restrictions resulting from 
drawn up to make this adaptation through the pandemic led to a sharp drop of around 
green, blue and grey solutions. Participation 30% in emissions. Everyone accepts that emis-
in the European Coolschools project allows sions have risen again in 2021 and even more 
the learning and implementation of this policy to so in 2022, but it is essential that this “rebound” 
be accelerated. remains moderate, so that the level of emissions 
is on a clearly downward trajectory compared 
In addition to their aesthetic value, the drinking to 2019. 
water fountains and the surface water of orna-
mental fountains can also help to mitigate the In April 2022, Barcelona was selected by the 
effects of heat waves. In 2021, the total number European Commission, out of more than 400 can-
of drinking fountains was 1,719, an almost un- didate cities, as one of the 100 European cities 
paralleled network in Europe. With regard to the to participate in the mission to achieve climate 
surface area of ornamental fountains, in 2021 it neutrality by 2030. It is considered that in order 
totalled 116,042 m2, a significant  increase com- to reach this point it will be necessary to reduce 
pared to 2020, when it was 110,760 m2. annual emissions to below 750,000 tonnes of CO2 
equivalent; a major challenge that marks the way 
13.2 Barcelona will achieve forward. This path will become a reality in 2023 
the reduction of Greenhouse with the drafting and approval of a City Climate 
Gas (GHG) emissions as Contract.
established in the most The Barcelona Greenhouse Gas Emissions and 
ambitious international Energy Balance is the document that brings 
together the main indicators in this area, present-
agreements ed in very comprehensive graphs. 
112
13.3 Barcelona will have effective tools for improving education, 
awareness-raising, and the human and institutional capacity for 
the mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning of 
climate change
Graph 98: Participation, awareness-raising and training in the fight against climate change
Indicator 13.3.1: Have a participatory committee to tackle the climate emergency in Barcelona
Indicator 13.3.2: Provide the ten city districts with an environmental education facility
10
10
9
8
8 8 8 8 8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
1 1 1 1 1
0
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
Source 13.3.1: Area of Urban Ecology. Climate Emergency Roundtable.
Source 13.3.2: Area of Urban Ecology. Climate Plan.
Education, cultural activity, communication and es, programmes and also documents such 
encouraging citizens to take action are vital instru- as “The climate emergency challenge: 
ments to make progress in achieving the SDGs. information guide and proposal for educational 
In the case of Barcelona, the existence and main- activities”. In order to promote the involvement of 
tenance of the Climate Emergency Roundtable citizens in the climate transition, the 2030 Climate 
as a point of reference in the fight against cli- Emergency Action Plan envisages a solid policy 
mate change is particularly important. All districts of subsidies for projects in this area. The docu-
should also be equipped with environmental ed- ment “Climate Plan + Let’s Network (2022-2027)” 
ucation equipment that incorporates the climate explains the logic and how it works. 
goals and the 2030 Agenda. In 2022, 8 of the  10 
districts already had such equipment. 13.b Develop international 
cooperation relating to the 
The 2030 Let’s change for the climate plan 
sets out Barcelona’s sustainability culture prevention and mitigation of the 
strategy, which encompasses all aspects of effects of climate change
awareness-raising, participation and edu-
cation. This work is deployed through spac- See SDG 17, target 2.
113
Budgetary effort indicators
The budgetary effort indicators show that the an- EUR 70 million, summing both current expenditure 
nual expenditure dedicated to this SDG is around and investment.
Current expenditure on SDG 13
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
65 3.2% 3.5%
3.0%
3.0%
60 2.3%
2.5%
55 2.0%
50 1.5%
59
56.1
53.5 1.0%
45
0.5%
40 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 13
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
70 5.0%
60
3.5% 4.0%
50 2.9%
2.7%
40 2.5% 3.0%
1.8%
30 62.6
2.0%
20
26.8 1.0%
10
9.2 12.7 13.9
0 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
114
These figures are the result of applying the same example of this is public transport (SDG 11, 
cost allocation model used in the other SDGs. target 2). The Climate Budget follows this 
More specifically, it takes into account only those approach by identifying and accounting for all 
actions dedicated exclusively or almost exclusively municipal expenditure that, directly or indirectly, 
to achieving the targets of SDG 13. has been dedicated to promoting the objectives 
of climate change mitigation and adaptation. The 
However, the fight against climate change is a very results, presented in budget graph 26bis, show 
cross-cutting objective, which affects a large part that current expenditure is on course to reach 
of the sectors of municipal activity, even if it is not EUR 200 million (10% of the total) and investment 
a priority objective in many cases. A paradigmatic to reach EUR 60 million.
Budget graph 26 bis:
Municipal expenditure on climate objectives
Indicator: Current expenditure (chapters 2 and 4) on climate objectives in millions of euros and as a % of total current expenditure
(chapters 2 and 4)
Indicator: Investment projects dedicated to climate objectives in millions of euros and as a % of total investment projects
500 18.0%
15.5%
16.0%
400 14.0%
10.3% 12.0%
300 9.9% 10.0% 9.4% 10.0%
8.6%
8.0%
200 8.2%
6.3% 194.43 200.1 202.58 6.0%
187.31
100 4.0%
64.6 58.21 60.04
2.0%
17.48
0 0.0%
2020 (budget spent) 2021 (budget spent) 2022 (initial budget) 2023 (initial budget)
Source: Barcelona City Council. Open budget.
115
SDG14 life below 
water
Life below water
The city of Barcelona has 15 kilometres of The Government Measure “Boosting Barcelo-
completely artificial coastline, which has enor- na’s blue economy” aims to make the most of 
mous potential for valuable economic, social the economic and employment opportunities 
and environmental uses. The Strategic Plan arising from its proximity to the sea, seeking 
for the city’s coastal areas aims to bring order synergies or, in any case, ensuring the preser-
to these uses, which are not always compatible, vation of the environmental values, as set out 
and to optimise their positive impacts. in SDG 14.
116
Targets and indicators for Barcelona
14.1 Minimise water pollution along the Barcelona coastline
Graph 99: Pollution of the sea with solid waste
Indicator 14.1.1: Prevent 4.55 m3 of solid waste from the combined sewage system from reaching the sea during
rainy weather (m3/days of significant rainfall a year)
10.00 200.00
9.00 168.18 180.00
8.00 139.58 160.00
7.00 126.81 140.00
6.00 5.58 4.55 120.00
94.79
5.00 100.00
4.00 3.63 80.00
55.00 2.90
3.00 60.00
2.00 32.08
1.21 40.00
1.00 0.77
0.18 20.00
0.00 0.00
016 017 018 019
2 2 2 2 2020 021
2 2022
2023
2024
2025 6
202 2027 028
2 2029
2030
Volume of waste retained (m3)/days of significant rainfall a year Linear metres of operational points installed
Source: Barcelona Cicle de l’Aigua, SA.
Graph 100: Sea pollution on rainy days
Indicator 14.1.2: Percentage of days of overflow on the beaches of Barcelona in relation to the days of significant rainfall (>= 1mm)
90 80%
79
80 70%
70 69%
59 60%
60 52 55
50
43 50%
50 44 45
42% 42% 44% 40%
40 37% 38%
30%
30 34%
27%
20 20%
10 10%
0 0%
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
% CSOs/days of rain >= 1mm No. days of significant rainfall (>= 1mm)
Note: 2030 target pending definition.
Source: Barcelona Cicle de l’Aigua, SA
Minimising water pollution along the coast means occurred on 31 of the 45 days of significant rain-
protecting bathing water from overflows of com- fall recorded. This represents a significant increase 
bined sewage systems during periods of heavy over previous years.
rainfall, avoiding the arrival of both floating solid 
waste and lumps from land to sea and the dis- In 2020, the City Council promoted the “The 
charge of untreated water. Graph 99 shows that sea starts here” campaign, which aimed to raise 
thanks to the investment in retention infrastructure awareness of the fact that small amounts of 
in 2021, 5.58 m3 of solid waste from the combined waste can reach the sea through the sewers. This 
sewage system were prevented from reaching the action, together with the #beuresenseplastic chal-
sea per day of significant rainfall. This figure is lenge [drink without plastic], secured Barcelona 
already better than the target set for 2030. In re- the award in the public administration category 
lation to the days of overflow due to rainy weath- at the 12th edition of the European Week for 
er (Graph 100), it can be seen that this situation Waste Reduction. 
117
Graph 101: Water quality of the beaches
Indicator 14.2.1: Achieve a score of 3 (excellent) in the water-quality indicator for Barcelona’s beaches
3.0 3.0
2.9
2.9
2.8
2.8
2.7
2.6 2.7 2.6
2.5
2.5 2.6
2.4
2.3 2.4
2.2
2.1
2.0
2015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 6 7 8 9 0
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 202 202 202 202 203
Note: Score of 3 for Excellent quality, 2 for Good quality, 1 for Sufficient quality and 0 for insufficient quality of each of the 10 beaches of
in the city. The overall score is extrapolated from the average of the 10 beaches.
Source: Catalan Water Agency.
14.2 The water quality of To do so, it is essential to understand and reduce 
all Barcelona’s beaches will the negative environmental externalities generated 
by boat traffic. The Port of Barcelona is working to 
be excellent incorporate new means of responding to accidental 
spillages in the Prat dock and external waters. In the 
Achieving an excellent level of water qual- case of the Olympic Port, it is worth highlighting the 
ity on Barcelona’s beaches means ob- acquisition in 2021 of a barrier to block the mouth of 
taining the maximum score of 3 points for the port and thus contain oil and hydrocarbon spills 
the city’s ten beaches. The graph shows that damage the maritime environment. In the case 
that quality levels, despite some highs 
and lows, are quite high throughout the 14.5 Maintain Barcelona’s 
entire period from 2015 to 2021. To achieve ex- commitment to the biodiversity 
cellence, however, it will be necessary to further 
reduce pollution in the coastal waters. of its coastline
Graph 102: Marine animal species identified on the coast of Barcelona
Indicator 14.5.1: Maintain the number of marine animal species identified on the coast of Barcelona
108
105
102 103 103
99
96
93
90
022 023 024
2 2 2 2025 6 7 8 9 0
202 202 202 202 203
Source: Area of Urban Ecology. Biodiversity Atlas.
118
Graph 103: Barcelona’s fishing sector
Indicator 14.b.1: Have at least 37 boats and at least two using traditional methods
Indicator 14.b.2: Achieve captures for an amount equal to or greater than 8.6% of all fishing ports in Catalonia (right axis)
40 20.0%
37 37
36
34 18.0% Vessels Auxiliary
35 services
16.0%
30 28
28 14.0%
26
25 Seiners
12.0%
7.8%
20 8.1% 10.0%
7.7% 7.3% 8.6% 8.6%
8.0%
15 7.4% Trawlers
7.0% 6.0%
10
4.0%
5 Traditional
2.0% vessels
2 2 2 2 2 0 2 2
0 0.0%
015 016 017
2 2 2 2018
2019 0
202 2021 022 023 024 025 6
2 2 2 2 202 2027
2028
2029
2030
.
Source: Idescat and Department for Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda
Maintaining marine biodiversity is very important. dissemination and connection between science 
According to the Barcelona City Council’s Biodi- and the citizens in this space on the seafront. 
versity Atlas, Barcelona’s beaches are home to Therefore, the new space will focus on knowl-
103 marine species. While it is true that some edge transfer and dissemination activities on 
are invasive species, protected species such as topics related to the marine environment.
seahorses, meagre, grouper and bluefish take 
shelter there. 14.b Promote the maintenance 
of the fishing sector in 
On this point, of interest is the project, begun in 
2021, for the rehabilitation of the Olympic Port’s Barcelona, placing value 
breakwater, which includes the environmentali- on its economic, environmental 
sation of the submerged areas of the port to en-
courage an increase in the biological diversity of and cultural contributions
the area. The project is based in the Parc dels 
Esculls on the eastern coast and also has the The decline observed in the number of fishing 
scientific guidance of the Barcelona Zoo. vessels is far from the objective of maintaining 
the fishing sector in Barcelona beyond 2030. 
14.a Consolidate a marine- Between 2015 and 2021, 10 of the 36 vessels 
sciences training, research and in operation at the beginning of the period 
were no longer operating. However, the two 
development hub vessels that use traditional methods, the most 
valued in terms of sustainability, were still ac-
The main new development in this area is that tive in 2021. 
in July 2022 the City Council and the Spanish 
National Research Council (CSIC) approved As far as catches are concerned, the share of 
a collaborative protocol to promote the expansion the port of Barcelona in the total number of 
of the facilities of the Mediterranean Marine fishing ports in Catalonia fell by 1.6 points in 
and Environmental Research Centre (CMIMA), 2020, to stand at 7.0%. In 2021, the indicator 
located on Barcelona’s Passeig Marítim, which rose slightly, to 7.4%. During the years of the 
includes the Institute of Marine Sciences and pandemic, 2020 and 2021, fish catches and the 
the Marine Technology Unit. The two institutions generation of economic value derived from them 
share the desire to generate new uses for scientific fell by more than 20%. 
119
Budgetary effort indicators
The budgetary effort indicators show that the cur- whole of the 2020-2023 MIP will be well below EUR 
rent expenditure dedicated to SDG 14 is less than 5 million per year. The main reason is that this is not 
EUR 10 million, and the average investment in the an area that falls under municipal management.
Current expenditure on SDG 14
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
12 0.5%
0.4% 0.4%
0.4%
10
0.4%
0.3%
8 0.3%
0.3%
6
9.3 9.9 0.2%
4 7.5 0.2%
0.1%
2
0.1%
0 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 14
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
20 2.0%
1.8%
1.6%
15 1.3% 1.4%
1.2%
10 13.8
0.8% 1.0%
0.7%
0.6% 0.8%
0.6%
5
0.0% 0.4%
4.1 4.1 5.3 0.3 0.2%
0 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
120
121
SDG15 life on
land
Protect, restore and 
promote sustainable  
use of terrestrial 
ecosystems, sustainably 
manage forests, combat 
desertification, and 
halt and reverse land 
degradation and halt 
biodiversity loss
The 2021-2030 Barcelona Nature Plan is the The Programme for promoting urban green 
document that sets out the strategy to be infrastructure is the government measure 
followed so that the city can achieve SDG 15. approved to speed up the implementation of 
It is based on three working lines (1. More the Plan. This new green infrastructure mod-
greenery and biodiversity, 2. Conserving and el, which incorporates naturalisation and the 
improving greenery and biodiversity, 3. With promotion of biodiversity, requires resources 
and for citizens) and two cross-cutting areas and new professional profiles in the area of 
(knowledge and governance), which will be parks and gardens. The 2030 Horizon Horta 
rolled out through 20 actions and 100 projects. Labyrinth Training Centre’s Strategic Plan sets 
It is based on the success of the Green and out this challenge and specifies how to tackle 
Biodiversity Plan, which has already brought it (Community, innovation, excellence and 
about a change in the comprehensive rehabili- networking at the service of the city’s greenery).
tation of parks and gardens.
122
Targets and indicators for Barcelona as in reservoirs or ponds, or where bird species 
of great interest nest. The six existing biodiversity 
15.1 Promote biodiversity refuges are located in the Joan Miró Park, the 
nodes and nature reserves Valent Petit Gardens, the Ca l’Alier Factory, Plaça 
de les Glòries, the Doctor Pla i Armengol Gar-
as an essential part of urban dens and the Diagonal Mar park. This one, the 
green infrastructure newest, stands out for the presence of more than 
150 different species of birds.
According to the monitoring indicators of the 
2030 Climate Emergency Action Plan, Barcelona The Greenery and Biodiversity Charter is a guide on 
already had new biodiversity refuges and nature how to design green spaces using quality criteria, 
reserves in 2021. Biodiversity refuges are man-made taking into account socio-environmental services 
habitats, designed with the intention of increasing while promoting biodiversity and sustainability. 
the diversity of flora and fauna (in many cases, 
protected species) and to promote ecological con-
nectivity. Some of these areas have been created 15.2 Nearly 30% of Barcelona 
naturally in particularly favourable locations, such covered by trees
Graph 104: Create biodiversity nodes and nature reserves
Indicator 15.1.1: Create 10 biodiversity nodes and nature reserves in the city
10
10.00
9
9.00
8
8.00
7.00
6.00
5
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
2015
2016
2017 8
201 2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 024 025 6 7 8 9
2 2 202 202 202 202 2030
Source: Area of Urban Ecology. Climate Plan.
Graph 105: Surface area with trees
Indicator 15.2.1a: Increase the surface area with trees to 30 Km2
Indicator 15.2.1b: Increase the surface area with trees per inhabitant to 18.6 m2
35.00
33.00
31.00
28.27 28.32 28.35 28.53 28.64 28.75 28.80 29.9
29.00
27.00
25.00
23.00
21.00
19.00 17.60 17.60 17.50 17.50 17.50 17.20 17.60 18.6
17.00
15.00
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
Source: Area of Urban Ecology. Climate Plan.
123
Graph 106: Burnt forest area (Barcelonès region)
Indicator 15.3.1: Fewer than five burnt hectares a year (calculated from the moving average for the last three years)
25.0 24
22.1 22.9 Surface area
forest area
20.0 19.2 burnt in the
Barcelonès
16.8 region (Hc)
15.0 15.3 Annual number
of fires
11.1
10.0 9.5 9 9 Medium
8 8
7 surface area
7 7.0 forest area
5.4 5.2 burnt in the
5.0 5
3.6 Barcelonès
1.5 2.3 region in the
0.3 last three
0.0 years (Hc)
015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 029 0
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 203
Source: Department for Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda.
The data indicate that we are on the right track approaches, such as the introduction of pasture-
to meet the 2030 targets of exceeding 30 km2 land which, through grazing, creates perimeter 
of tree-covered surface area and 18.6 m2 of safety strips to prevent fires in housing estates and 
tree-covered surface area per inhabitant in the city. neighbourhoods bordering the Collserola Park.
Between 2015 and 2021, the tree-covered surface 
area increased by 53 hectares, which is equivalent 15.4 Introduce climate-change 
to 17.60 m2 per inhabitant. This level of effort will criteria into the management 
need to be maintained throughout the decade. of the Serra de Collserola 
The 2017-2037 Barcelona Tree Planting Master Natural Park
Plan (“Trees for Life”) sets out the long-term strat-
egy for the quantity, type and location of trees to The Special Protection Plan for the natural envi-
be planted, as well as their maintenance, taking ronment and landscape of Serra de Collserola 
into account the expected climatic changes. Natural Park has been approved and includes 
the perspective and criteria for adapting to 
15.3 Less than five hectares of climate change.
woodland burnt in the county 15.5 Maintain biodiversity in 
of Barcelonès Barcelona and increase the 
After several years with a relatively low number efforts in the struggle to preserve 
of fires, less than 10 a year, in 2021 the number the biodiversity of the planet
of forest fires in the county of Barcelonès was 
24 and the total number of hectares burned was The biodiversity index of native species expresses 
19.2. Considering the period as a whole, the trend the trend in the populations of native bird species 
is still adequate to reach the target, but it is impor- in Barcelona in the year in question, in relation 
tant not to let our guard down at any time. to the populations counted the first year when 
monitoring began in 2005 (index 2005=1). Graph 
The 2014-2025 Master Plan for the Barcelona Fire 107 shows that the indicator has maintained 
Prevention, Extinguishing and Rescue Service sets a negative trend since 2016, particularly evident 
out the course to be followed. Climate change in the last year for which we have data. Concern 
poses an enormous challenge for the preservation about this phenomenon has led to the study of its 
of the forest mass and makes it even more nec- causes. Even more specifically, the impact of cat 
essary to invest in prevention and consider new colonies on urban nesting birds.
124
Graph 107: Protecting biodiversity
Indicator 15.5.1: Maintain the biodiversity Index for native birds at above 0.80
Indicator 15.5.2: Proportion of Zoo research and conservation projects or actions dedicated to native species (right axis)
1.50 100%
1.40 83.0% 90%
1.30 75.4% 80%
67.7% 67.6%
1.20 80.0% 70%
1.10 65.5% 66.7% 60%
1.00 50%
0.91
0.90 40%
0.78
0.80 0.77
0.73 30%
0.72 0.80
0.70 20%
0.60 0.57 10%
0.50 0%
015 016 017 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
2 2 2 201 201 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 203
Source 15.5.1: Area of Urban Ecology. Barcelona Sustainability Indicators.
Source 15.5.2: Barcelona Zoo.
It is also satisfying to note that the research and animals that live in the city, mainly domestic 
conservation efforts of the Barcelona Zoo are animals, but also species that have adapted to the 
increasingly focused on native species, thus con- urban habitat and other non-domestic animals 
tributing to the promotion of biodiversity in the that, for whatever reason, are in the city. In the next 
Mediterranean region. Barcelona Zoo’s Report on edition of the report, a target for Barcelona will be 
research and conservation activities in situ sets out presented with the corresponding indicator(s). 
in detail each of its projects and other activities of 
interest related to biodiversity. 15.a Barcelona will have 
15.7 Zero tolerance to the a new zoo model, more geared 
trafficking of protected species towards the preservation 
and the introduction of invasive and dissemination of 
species of flora and fauna biodiversity, and a Biodiversity 
to Barcelona Research Institute
It has not been possible to make this target work The Strategic Plan for the new Barcelona Zoo 
on a local scale. The fact is that the responsibil- model (a glimpse into the future) has been 
ities lie with the Spanish Government, and are developed with the implementation of projects 
exercised, on an executive level, by the Nature such as the Savannah-Sahel biome, the new 
Protection Service of the Spanish Civil Guard. invertebrate area, the Komodo Dragons Discovery 
A National Central Office was created in February Centre, the new school reception area and 
2022 to improve coordination in the fight against the new La Dama restaurant and food kiosks. 
illegal wildlife trafficking, and so on. The initiative Barcelona City Council has also set up the 
is part of the Spanish Action Plan against Illegal Science and Ethics Committee (CCE) for the 
Trafficking and International Poaching of Wildlife Zoo, made up of 15 independent experts in 
Species (TIFIES) and the European programme biodiversity conservation and management and 
Life+ Nature Guardians. in  animal welfare.
In any event, in terms of Barcelona’s 2030 Agenda, See 15.5.
it would make more sense to focus the target on 
the functions exercised directly by the City Council 
in the enforcement of the Byelaw on the protection, 
ownership and sale of animals. These focus on 
125
Budgetary effort indicators
The budget effort indicators show that the ordinary it will increase significantly in the first year of the 
expenditure dedicated to SDG 15 is very modest; MIP (2023). It should be noted that a large part of 
in the region of EUR 30 million per year, just over the expenditure on green infrastructure, in relation 
1% of the total. Investment is still lower, although to public space, is attributable to SDG 11.
Current expenditure on SDG 15
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
35 1.4%
34
1.3% 1.3% 1.3%
33 1.3%
32
31 1.2%
30
31.7
29 31.1 1.1%
29.8
28
27 1.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 15
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
5 0.5%
4.5
4 0.4%
3.5 0.3% 4.4
3 0.3%
2.5 0.2% 0.2%
2 2.5 0.2%
1.5 0.1%
0.1%
1 0.1%
0.5 1 0.7
0 0.2 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
126
127
SDG16 PEACE, JUSTICE
AND SOLID
INSTITUTIONS
Peace, justice and 
strong institutions
128
Targets and indicators for Barcelona Furthermore, in 2021, a total of 146,605 reports 
16.1 By 2030, less violence, of criminal offences were reported to the police, 
which implies an increase of approximately 10% 
greater perception of safety compared to 2020, when the lockdowns and the 
and improved community life fall in tourism led to a 40% drop in the number 
of crimes compared to the figure for 2019. The 
in Barcelona positive fact is that crime has not recovered as 
quickly as the economy, but it will be necessary 
In relative terms, Barcelona is a very safe city, to see the figures for 2022 to confirm whether it 
especially when it comes to serious and violent has stabilised at a significantly lower level than in 
crime. In 2021 there were a total of eight violent 2018-2019.
deaths in Barcelona, five fewer than the previous 
year. If this trend is maintained, the target could be From the perspective of preserving coexistence in 
achieved by 2030. the neighbourhood and among residents, 18.9% 
Graph 108: Crime
Indicator 16.1.1: Reduce crime to less than seven violent deaths per year (manslaughter and homicides).
Indicator 16.1.2: Reduce crime to less than 150,000 reported crimes a year (right axis).
50 250,000
222,878
45 226,384
40 176,245 200,000
189,419
35
30 171,737 146,605 150,000
25 150,000
28 133,304
20 100,000
15
17
10 50,000
11 11 13
5 10
8 7
0 0
015
2 2016
2017
2018 019 020
2 2 2021 2 3 4
202 202 202 2025 026 027
2 2 2028
2029
2030
Source: Catalan Department of Home Affairs. Mossos d’Esquadra.
Graph 109: Conflicts of coexistence and perception of security
Indicator 16.1.3: Reduce the incidence of community-life conflicts to less than 10%
Indicator 16.1.4a: Get the perception of safety in the neighbourhood to above 6.5 (out of 10)
Indicator 16.1.4b: Get the perception of safety in the city to above 6.5 (out of 10)
20.0
18.9
18.0 16.5
16.0 15.2 15.4 14.7 14.4 14.9
14.0
12.0
10.0
10.0
8.0 6.3 6.5 6.4 5.9 5.9 6.2 6.1 6.5
6.0 6.5
6.2 6.3 6.2
4.0 5.2 5.2 5.6 5.4
2.0
0.0
015 016
2 2 2017
2018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 9 0
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 202 203
Source: Barcelona Victimisation Survey
129
Graph 110: Safety and protection of children
Indicator 16.2.1: Reduce the number of reported cases of domestic violence against children or adolescents to less than 100
Indicator 16.2.2: Reduce the number of crimes against family rights and obligations by 50%
Indicator 16.2.3: Increase the proportion of children aged between 10 and 12 who feel safe in their neighbourhood to 90% (right axis)
350 333 95.0%
311
90.0%
300 276 287 89.2%
272 90.0%
290
250 85.0%
200 80.0%
173
75.5%
150 75.0%
132
100
100 133 130 70.0%
87
50 65.0%
015 016 017
2 2 2 2018
2019
2020
2021
2022 3
202 2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
Source 16.2.1: Department of Home Affairs of the Government of Catalonia.
Source 16.2.2: Department of Home Affairs of the Government of Catalonia.
Source 16.2.3: Barcelona Institute of Childhood and Adolescence. Survey on the Subjective Well-Being of Children in Barcelona.
of citizens stated that they had experienced some local human rights: An analysis of police forces 
kind of coexistence conflict in 2021. This is almost in the city, the Report on coexistence, prevention 
4 points more than the average for the period and safety prepared by the Working Committee 
2015-2020 and a worrying gap with respect to the for el Besòs and el Maresme and the mono-
target of not exceeding 10% in 2030. graph on urban violence published by Barcelona 
Metròpolis. 
With regard to the perception of safety, two 
very different situations can be found, depend- 16.2 By 2030, a safer city for 
ing on whether it is considered at the city-wide children with zero tolerance for 
level or at neighbourhood level. In the latter 
case, the results have been very stable since child maltreatment
2015, with differences of just a few tenths of 
a point. In contrast, the perception of safety In 2020, 333 reports of domestic violence against 
in the city over the same period is rated more children were recorded, the highest figure since 
negatively, with a cumulative drop of 8 decimal 2015. Although we cannot know whether it is due 
points (from 6.2 points in 2015 to 5.4 in 2021). to the effects of the stress factors derived from 
It is worth pointing out that this discrepancy the pandemic, or whether it is due to the greater 
between the how the city and the neighbour- social awareness of the need to report cases of 
hood are viewed demonstrates the subjectivity maltreatment, this increase shows that the devas-
of the indicator. tating phenomenon of violence against children and 
adolescents is far from being eradicated.
The Guàrdia Urbana Master Plan is the main 
strategic document in this area. Follow the link With regard to offences against family rights and 
for the summary document. In recent times, it is duties, 132 were reported in 2021, two more than 
worth highlighting the government measure “The the previous year, but 41 fewer than in 2018. In 
Guàrdia Urbana against gender violence”, and the order to successfully achieve this goal, it is hoped 
work done by the Citizens’ Roundtable for a civil that they will decrease at least as fast in the next 
and safe night (diagnosis, proposals for action and few years.
action plan).
If we consider how children perceive safety, it is 
The Barcelona Victimisation Survey is the main worth highlighting the positive result emerging 
source of data on the perception of safety. Re- from the 2021 Survey of children’s subjective 
cent projects that allow us to gain a more in- well-being, which puts the proportion of children 
depth understanding of other aspects of safety aged 10 to 12 who feel safe in the neighbourhood 
in Barcelona include the study by the Barcelona at 89.2%, an increase of 13.7% compared to 2017 
Ombudsman’s Office on the Guàrdia Urbana and and almost in line with the target figure for 2030.
130
The 2021-2030 Children’s Plan (Goals and actions the 50% target set for 2030. From a more gen-
to improve the lives and rights of children and eral point of view, however, it can be seen that 
adolescents in Barcelona) includes guaranteeing the proportion of citizens who have a high lev-
the right of children to be protected from discrimi- el of confidence in the City Council was 51.6% 
nation and violence among its priority actions. in 2021. This rating is 4.8 points lower than in 
2018 (56.4%), but much higher than the 43.9% 
16.3 Develop international reported in 2014.
cooperation for the protection 
and promotion of human rights Given the need for proactivity against corrup-
tion, the City Council created the Office for 
Transparency and Good Practices in 2015. One 
See SDG 17, target 2. of the main instruments for implementing its 
mission is the Ethics Mailbox, an anonymous 
16.5 Barcelona, an exemplary channel for reporting possible cases of corrup-
city for institutional integrity and tion or malpractice within the City Council. The 
good governance number of communications received in the eth-
ics mailbox was 376 in 2021.
Integrity is one of the essential cornerstones of In 2017, the City Council adopted a code of 
political structures and is, in the first instance, ethics and conduct for its public servants, 
crucial for economic and social well-being. We which sets the necessary standards to become 
believe that the correct management of public a model administration. In parallel, there has 
resources and the application of ethical stand- been a dramatic increase in municipal budget 
ards in their administration to a large extent de- and financial transparency since 2015. This 
termine the confidence citizens have in the insti- also applies to the cost reports, which are pre-
tutions. In 2022, 44.8% of citizens rated the City sented globally, by sector and by district, and 
Council’s administration of money positively, 6.2 which calculate the cost of each unit of ser-
points more than in 2015 (38.6%). We must con- vice provided by the municipal administration, 
tinue along the same lines and go even further including the proportional part of indirect and 
in public transparency in order to reach at least structural costs. 
Graph 111: Institutional integrity and good governance
Indicator 16.5.1: Increase the % of the population who rate the management of the City Council’s money as good or very
good by more than 50 points.
Indicator 16.5.2: Increase the % of people who have a high level of trust in the City Council to 70% (Right axis)
Indicator 16.5.3: Number of Communications received by the City Council’s Ethical Postbox
600 100%
499 90%
500
80%
70%
400 386 376
357 70.0%
299 60%
56.4%
300 50%
48.6% 42.0% 51.6% 50.0%
43.9% 45.9% 44.2% 44.8% 40%
41.5% 43.4%
200 38.6%
30%
20%
100 63
10%
0 0%
014 015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 5 6 7 8 9 0
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 202 202 202 202 202 203
Source 16.5.1: Municipal Services Survey.
Source 16.5.2: Barcelona Social Values Survey.
Source 16.5.3: Analysis Services Directorate. Barcelona City Council.
131
Graph 112: Municipal management
Indicator 16.6.1: Get the evaluation of municipal management to above 6.5 (out of 10)
Indicator 16.6.2: Final procedures that are completely digitalised with immediate download of the document
Indicator 16.6.3: Get the payment period for suppliers to below 28 days on average
60.0
51
50.0 49 49
40.0
33.0 32.7 31.1
30.0
30.1 29.3 28.0
22.6
20.0 20.9
10.0
6.3 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.2 5.7 5.9 5.7 6.5
0.0
2015
2016 017 018 019
2 2 2 2020 1
202 2022
2023
2024 5 6
202 202 2027 028 029 030
2 2 2
Source 16.6.1: Municipal Services Survey.
Source 16.6.2: Management Office for the 2030 Agenda, Digital Transition and Sports.
Source 16.6.3: Management Office for the Economy, Resources and Economic Promotion.
16.6 Barcelona City Council, digitise a large part of the different phases of the 
maximum efficiency and procedures offered, including a total of 51 fully 
responsibility towards the digitised procedures for which documents can 
be downloaded immediately.
general public
The Annual Municipal Services Survey, which has 
Ensuring that Barcelona City Council is well been carried out uninterruptedly for over 30 years, 
regarded for its management is fundamental is the main source of data for finding out how 
and depends on efficiency and accountability citizens perceive and value the actions of Barcelona 
towards citizens. City Council, especially its services. This core 
opinion survey is complemented by other, more 
As can be seen in Graph 112, the average rating flexible surveys, such as the quarterly omnibus 
of municipal management, on a scale of 0 to 10, surveys and satisfaction surveys on very specific 
increased slightly from 2015 to 2018, from 6.3 to services. 
6.5. Since then, this rating has been falling – to 
5.7 in 2022 – and is therefore moving further and The City Council has a People and Organisa-
further away from the objective of not falling below tional Development Strategy, which has been 
6.5 in 2030. deployed with projects such as the identification 
and promotion of the organisation’s most positive 
One of the most important indicators of man- values: agility, friendliness, commitment to 
agement efficiency is the speed of payment to public service, clarity and co-creation. These 
suppliers. In 2021, payment to suppliers was values have had to be developed within the 
made, on average, in less than 21 days from context of the pandemic, which has put public 
the moment the invoice was entered into the commitment to the test and has led to proposals 
municipal registry. This is a very positive figure, for change in management models. It also high-
and already well below the target of 28 days set lights the effort to transform new knowledge 
for 2030. into social value, through the Government 
measure for social innovation, and to explore 
The digital transformation of the pub- new approaches to public policy, through what 
lic administration brings important ad- are known as Nudges. The action undertaken 
vances, both for citizens and the admin- to improve the service to citizens and to move 
istration itself, as it brings about an im- towards the digital administration is explained 
provement in the quality of public services. in the report by the Management Office for the 
The City Council has made a major effort to 2030 Agenda, Digital Transition and Sports.
132
Graph 113: Social and political participation
Indicator 16.7.1: 20 or more participatory processes every year
Indicator 16.7.2: 5 or more successfully presented citizen initiatives every year
Indicator 16.7.3: One or more citizen consultations every year
Indicator 16.7.4: 25% or more of adults taking part in an association or organisation in their neighbourhood (right axis)
Indicator 16.7.5: Participation in municipal elections above 70% (right axis)
40 80.0% Participation in
37 70.0% the municipal
35 66.2% 70.0% elections
60.6%
30 60.0% People
participating in
25 50.0% organisations
20
20 40.0% Number of
16 participatory
15 25.0% 30.0% processes
10 10 initiated per year
10 13.9% 20.0%
13.8% 10.5% 5
5 4 10.8% 10.0% Number
of citizen
0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0.0% initiatives
2015
2016
2017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 6 7 8 9
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 202 202 202 202 2030 Number of
citizen
Source 16.7.1, 16.7.2 and 16.7.3: Manager’s Office for the Area of Culture, Education, Science and Community enquiries
Source 16.7.4: Municipal Services Survey.
Source 16.7.5: Municipal Data Office.
16.7 Barcelona, a city With regard to citizen initiatives, in 2020 and 2021 
committed to a high-quality it was not possible to hold any due to the courts’ 
and participatory democracy annulment of the Citizen Participation Regulation 
of 2017. For the same reason, and as a conse-
quence of the legal impediments, it has not been 
Citizen participation is developed through possible to hold any public consultations. It was 
different channels, such as participatory processes, necessary to wait for the definitive approval of 
citizen initiatives and citizen consultations. the new Regulation on citizen participation in 
In 2021, 37 participatory processes were held, June 2022 before these instruments could be 
21 more than in 2020. This is a very high figure, used again.
which reflects the municipal desire to subject all 
its relevant actions to public scrutiny and debate, Municipal action regarding citizen participation is 
with the aim of reaching agreements and bringing reflected in this report and in this Series of man-
about improvements. agement indicators for 2020-2021. A particularly 
significant achievement of this term of office is 
that participatory budgeting has been carried out 
for the first time. It is also interesting to consult 
the Report on the activities of the Consell de 
Ciutat (Municipal Council Assembly), as this is the 
main permanent body for citizen participation, 
and  through representation it encompasses 
many others. 
Naturally, the pandemic has led to an upheaval in 
participatory practices and has generated a need 
for adaptation. To this end, the Guide to citizen 
participation in times of pandemic: indications and 
recommendations to promote quality participa-
tion in a context of social distancing and reduced 
physical presence has been published. Moreover, 
the trend in grassroots participation has been 
studied in the publication Participation and in-
formality in the associative fabric of the city of 
Barcelona: trends and reflections.
133
Graph 114: Transparency and access to information
Indicator 16.10.1: Maintain Barcelona City Council’s position in the Infoparticipa institutional transparency index at 100%
Indicator 16.10.2: Reduce the number of requests for access to municipal information contested before the Commission
for the Guarantee of the Right of Access to Public Information to less than 5%.
100%
90% 100.0%100.0% 98.1% 98.1% 100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0% 100.0%
80%
70%
60%
50.0%
50%
40%
30%
20% 10.0% 11.0%
10% 7.0%
7.0% 8.0% 5.0%
0%
015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2023 024
2 2025
2026 027
2 2028
2029 030
2
Source 16.10.1: Report on Infoparticipa results.
Source 16.10.2: Department of Transparency and Good Practices.
16.10 In Barcelona, maximum to  municipal information contested before the 
transparency and commitment to Commission for Guaranteeing the Right of Access 
to Public Information to less than 5%. In 2021, 
access to information 8% of the petitions were contested, 3% less than 
in 2020.
Once again, Barcelona City Council has managed 
to maintain a 100% score in the analysis of Good Details of the work carried out can be consulted in 
Practices in Local Public Communication carried the Report by the Department of Transparency and 
out by Infoparticipa, which shows that it is proac- Good Practices.
tively fulfilling its obligation to make information 
public in accordance with the transparency 16.a. Expand international 
regime. cooperation relating to the 
With regard to compliance with the right of prevention of violence and the 
access to public information, and as a means of promotion of peace
ensuring its correct exercise, the target for 2030 
is to reduce the number of requests for access See SDG 17, target 2.
134
Budgetary effort indicators
The budgetary effort indicators show that SDG of the City Council and other structural costs that 
16 is the second most well provisioned in terms are difficult to assign to a specific SDG.
of current expenditure: more than EUR 400 million 
and a weight between 16% and 18% of the total. The investment expenditure is also considerable, 
It should be taken into account that this includes but with a much smaller relative weight.
security services, plus the non-earmarked services 
Current expenditure on SDG 16
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
500 20.0%
480 18.0% 19.0%
460 17.3% 18.0%
440 16.3% 17.0%
420 16.0%
400 15.0%
380 446.8 14.0%
360 407.3 13.0%
340 379.3 12.0%
320 11.0%
300 10.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 16
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
200 12.0%
180
9.2% 10.0%
160 9.1%
8.0%
140 7.2%
8.0%
120 5.4%
100 187.6 6.0%
80
4.0%
60
40
54 69.2 2.0%
20 47.3
17.2
0 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
135
SDG17 PARTNERSHIPS
FOR THE GOALS
Partnerships for the goals
136
Targets and indicators for Barcelona human rights and institutional strengthening are of 
particular note.
17.2 Municipal commitment 
with 0.7% for international The Barcelona Cooperation for Global Justice 
Master Plan sets out the strategy followed in this 
cooperation area. The direct cooperation of Barcelona City 
Council is essential in a horizontal relationship ap-
Since 2015, the municipal resources allocated proach among cities cooperating in the exchange 
to international cooperation and development of experiences and mobilisation of knowledge and 
aid are already very close to 0.7% of own settled skills for municipal action. This exchange is linked 
income, which is the target set for 2030. In ab- to a process of reciprocal learning, an essential 
solute terms, this represents an annual increase condition for this interrelationship to be truly 
of approximately EUR 1.5 million compared to effective and long-lasting. Therefore, the technical 
the beginning of the period. Graph 116 shows and managerial expertise of Barcelona City Council 
how many resources were allocated to subsi- is an essential asset for the implementation of 
dised cooperation projects, per year and per this cooperation model, which in turn is comple-
SDG. The areas of health, education, gender, mented with other actions organised with NGOs, 
Graph 115: Municipal expenditure on international cooperation
17.2.1: Percentage of own settled revenue allocated to international cooperation Social
15.00 1.0% expenditure on
International
14.00 Cooperation and
aid (in millions
13.00 0.8% of €). Line
0.70% axis.
12.00 0.66% 0.66% 0.67%
0.61% 0.68%
11.00 % of own
0.63% 10.50 0.6%
0.59% 10.38 settled revenue
10.00 9.78 9.97 9.88 dedicated to
international
9.00 8.92 8.76 0.4% cooperation and
aid (Right axis)
8.00
Own revenue=
7.00 0.2% Direct Taxes +
6.00 Indirect Taxes +
Charges and other
5.00 0.0% revenue + Equity
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 revenue + Sale of
20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 real investments
Source: Management Office for the Economy, Resources and Economic Promotion.
Graph 116:
Resources of the Justícia Global Programme per SDG (€). 2019 to 2021
3,500,000
3,000,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
0 SDG 1 SDG 2 SDG 3 SDG 4 SDG 5 SDG 6 SDG 7 SDG 8 SDG 9 SDG 10 SDG 11 SDG 12 SDG 13 SDG 15 SDG 16 SDG 17
2019 374,720 480,256 1,199,749 947,841 605,871 398,922 26,854 150,000 511,488 334,201 573,763 52,007 935,499 612,385
2020 234,924 1,373,049 581,612 2,238,192 294,729 28,667 436,680 403,470 869,237 476,489 243,728 37,765 1,574,603 94,990
2021 282,985 343,041 1,193,224 3,179,245 1,306,698 357,498 214,456 152,093 70,522 284,127 1,616,534 200,761
137
Euros
universities and other bodies of the city, through Tunduru Botanical Garden (Maputo)” project 
cooperation agreements as well as other projects has continued to be implemented in col-
within the framework of the annual call for applica- laboration with Engineers Without Borders 
tions for subsidies of the DJGCI. and the technical staff of the Urban Ecology 
Department of the Barcelona City Council.
In 2021, 44 cooperation projects were approved, 
14 of which are implemented in coordination with Î Design of the urban air quality control 
an agreement with the priority cities for the city system for the Maputo Metropolitan Area.
of Barcelona, as prioritised by the Master Plan: 
Amman, Saïda, Tétouan, Tunis, the people of the Î Urban intelligence micro-networks. Working 
West Bank and the Gaza Strip (Mediterranean and groups for technical cooperation between 
Eastern Side); Maputo and Dakar (Sub-Saharan cities, implemented through CIDEU (Ibero- 
Africa); Havana and the Colombian cities involved American Centre for Strategic Urban 
in the peace process (Latin American and the Development) areas such as gender main-
Caribbean). In all of the above, technical exchange streaming, urban ecology and libraries, 
processes are under way in different areas, but in archives and memory. Calí, Medellín, 
relation to 2021, the most significant were: Bogotà, Havana.
Î Exchanges in the field of Combating, Pre- Î Support for sustainable urban drainage 
venting and Caring for Women Victims of pilot projects, urban planning and acces-
Violence against Women in Sarajevo and sibility Mediterrani Sports Centre in Gaza, 
in Municipalities of Libya in collaboration Bethlehem and Amman.
with the United Nations Population Fund 
and UNODC. Î “The Historic Centre of Havana towards 
a smart city model with emphasis on the 
Î ASIMA TUNIS Project: “Planification promotion of the creative economy” project.
Stratégique et gouvernance multiniveau 
pour une ville métropolitaine résiliente”. Î Barcelona City Council has extended the 
Programme executed by Medcités with municipal programme “Barcelona pro-
the participation of Barcelona. tects journalists from Mexico”. In 2021, 
four women journalists were given shelter, 
Î Right to the City: Processes for the inclusive two for a period of six months, from April 
urban consolidation of informal neighbour- to September, and two more, for a period 
hoods, the generation of public spaces and of three months, during the last quarter 
services. The “Composting – Environmental of the year. Altogether there are already 
Education and Action: pilot experience in the 12 people under the programme.
138
93 people took part in the technical exchange and 17.14 From 2021, all municipal 
project support processes in priority cities, includ- government actions must have 
ing municipal technicians, elected officials and 
members of NGOs. reports concerning their impact 
on the 2030 Agenda and the city’s 
17.9 Develop international businesses and organisations must 
cooperation with regard to include them in their accountability
training and institutional 
improvement for the The alignment of municipal action with the SDGs 
implementation of the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda is reflected in the fact that 
in 2021, 57.9% of government measures were 
aligned with the 2030 Agenda, which is 29.5% 
See 17.2. more than in 2020 (28.6%).
Graph 117: Municipal alignment with the 2030 Agenda
Indicator 17.14.1: Percentage of Government Measures that take into account the 2030 Agenda when drafted
100.0%
100.0%
80.0%
60.0% 57.9%
40.0%
20.0% 28.6%
0.0%
020 1 2
2 202 202 2023
2024
2025 026 027 028 029 0
2 2 2 2 203
Source: Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda
139
17.16 Develop a strategy of 
partnerships at an international level 
in order to promote the attainment 
of the 2030 Agenda’s goals
Graph 118: International relations
Indicator 17.16.1: Number of international actions with official participation at a political level
Indicator 17.16.2: Number of networks and other cooperation initiatives (decentralised or multi-level)
in which the City Council participates
Indicator 17.16.3: Number of technical-exchange actions facilitated at an international level
160
140
144 141
120
103
100 100
80 92 85
61
60
52
40
20
14 17 17 12
0
019 020 1 2 3
2 2 202 202 202 2024 025 6 7 8 9 0
2 202 202 202 202 203
Source: Directorate of International Relations. Barcelona City Council.
The three indicators that measure this figure 17.17 Creating a public-private 
show the strength of the City Council’s external fund for the promotion of the 
action, both in terms of actions and participa-
tion in networks and the technical exchanges 2030 Agenda in Barcelona
with other cities. The main actions carried out 
can be found in the corresponding section of the In 2021, with the backing of the 2030 Agenda 
2021 Report, 2030 Agenda, Digital Transition and Commission, the MES Barcelona (Sustainable 
Sports. In the case of city networks, a rational- Energy Mechanism) was created, a public-private 
isation policy has been adopted, which seeks partnership (PPP) instrument designed to attract 
a reasonable balance between the costs involved private funding or funding from other public 
in participating in them and the benefits that can entities for projects with a strong, positive social 
be obtained in terms of projection, influence and impact. In this case, the aim is to increase local 
generation of opportunities for the city. There are and renewable energy generation, especially 
occasions, however, when this type of analysis photovoltaic energy. Through the multiplier effect 
is not valid. In the case of the war that has been of municipal investment, MES Barcelona aims to 
raging in Ukraine for the last year, Barcelona has accelerate the implementation of clean energy in 
stood by the side of the attacked party and has the city to mitigate climate change. At the same 
honoured its commitment to global justice by time, it aims to boost the local economy, making 
deploying a series of support actions and estab- it richer in actors, more efficient, more dynamic 
lishing a bilateral relationship of cooperation with and more sustainable. It is for this reason that this 
its capital, Kiev. project also has an impact on SDGs 7, 8, 9 and 
13, in addition to SDG 17. 
Barcelona, Global City: The 2020-2023 Interna-
tional Relations Master Plan is the document that The MES Barcelona instrument can make use of 
has guided the City Council’s overseas action, different investment modalities, always through 
complemented by others such as the recently a criteria of economic and social profitability. If this 
approved Asia Strategy. is a joint investment with other private and/or public 
140
entities, the City Council may invest up to a maxi- collaboration with the company Barcelona de 
mum of 30% of the total amount. It is the respon- Serveis Municipals (BSM), the Mobile World 
sibility of the co-investor entities or the companies Congress Foundation (Digital Future Society 
managing the regulated vehicles to assume the programme), the BIT Habitat Foundation and Fira de 
leadership in each of the investments, their moni- Barcelona, as well as other actors. The programme 
toring and subsequent disinvestment, if applicable, follows the logic of what are known as “innovation 
as well as to actively participate in the administra- challenges”, which consists of identifying a chal-
tion and management of the investments in which lenge and launching an open call to find companies 
they have holdings. By the end of 2022, there were or organisations that can propose a possible 
17 approved investors and new special purpose solution to it. A jury chooses the winning proposal 
vehicles (SPVs) had been approved, which together or proposals, which are then applied in a real 
had an investment potential of 75.61 million euros, context, by means of pilot tests financed by the 
with an installed capacity of 87.13 MWp. The City call itself. Innovations that successfully pass the 
Council’s investment commitment in these new test have the chance to be integrated in innova-
operations totals EUR 11.07 million. tive public procurement processes and reach the 
market. In light of the results, the possibilities for 
At the same time, other projects have been territorial scaling up of the solutions with the great-
launched by the Commissioner for the 2030 Agen- est impact and potential are also explored. These 
da. First, there is the Barcelona Innovation Coast innovation processes have been financed through 
(BIC). The project’s origins lie in the Pact for Bar- the extraordinary fund established to tackle the 
celona, signed in the summer of 2020 as a com- recovery of the city’s economy after the pandemic.
mitment by the city’s main stakeholders to promote 
economic and social recovery and to continue mak- The collaboration with the MetròpolisFPLab pro-
ing progress towards sustainability. The Pact calls gramme, promoted by the Barcelona Vocational 
for “a commitment to resilient and innovative eco- Training Foundation, is also of note. A group of insti-
nomic sectors, thus promoting diversification”. In tutions and companies from the Metropolitan Area 
recognition of this need and opportunity to change of Barcelona pose innovation challenges to teams 
Barcelona’s economic model, the BIC is conceived of vocational training students. A jury chooses the 
as a space for public-private support and coordina- winning team, which is awarded a grant to develop 
tion, focused on boosting the generation of applied its project, monitored by the institution itself. The 
knowledge to innovate production processes. The City Council, through the Commissioner for the 
priority sectors are mobility, energy, health and dig- 2030 Agenda, has participated in the 2022 edition 
italisation. Its territorial focus is the coastline of Bar- of the project, proposing a 2030 Agenda challenge 
celona, where many areas dedicated to research on SDG 5 (gender equality). The winning team was 
are concentrated, but the scope of action will be made up of students from the Advanced Diploma 
broader, covering the entire metropolitan region of in Health Documentation and Administration at the 
Barcelona. The BIC’s initial action consists of car- INS Bonanova school for vocational training.
rying out dialogue, negotiation, regulatory develop-
ment and fundraising actions to set up spaces and 17.19 Annually assess the 
instruments such as a deep tech investment matu- degree of attainment of the 
rity fund, the Fraunhofer Spain Research headquar-
ters in Barcelona and the development of Sandbox 2030Agenda in Barcelona
models so that technological innovations can be 
tested in the city under real conditions and with all Since the end of 2020, the City Council has been 
the legal guarantees. publishing an annual report on the monitoring 
and evaluation of the Barcelona 2030 Agenda, in 
Another is the 2030 Innovation programme, three different language versions (Catalan, Span-
designed to stimulate urban innovation in certain ish and English). With the publication of this third 
key areas of the 2030 Agenda, such as energy, report, the forecasts made for the target have 
electromobility and social inclusion. This is in been maintained.
141
Budgetary effort indicators
The budgetary effort indicators show that this SDG Metropolitan Area to finance its actions in the areas 
accounts for a fairly significant part of current ex- of Transport, Environment, Territory and other com-
penditure, more than 5% of the total. However, more petences. This amount is financed by 7.6% of the 
than 85% of this amount corresponds to the trans- transfers that the State contributes to the city of Bar-
fers that the City Council makes to the  Barcelona celona, plus a part linked to property  tax (IBI).
Current expenditure on SDG 17
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
180 7.0%
160 5.9%
6.0%
5.0%
140 4.9%
5.0%
120
100 4.0%
80
146.6 3.0%
60 114.8 118.2
2.0%
40
1.0%
20
0 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed
Planned investment in the MIP 2020-2023 for SDG 17
(amount in millions of euros and % of the total budget)
7 1.0%
6
0.8%
5 6.3
4 0.6%
3
0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.4%
0.2%
2
2.3 2.3 0.2%
1
0.8 0.9
0 0.0%
BE 2020 BE 2021 BA 2022 BA 2023 MIP 20-23
BA: Budget Approved. BE: Budget Executed MIP: Municipal Investment Plan
142
143
144
3.
Proposals for 
a prioritisation 
model for 
Barcelona’s 2030 
Agenda targets
145
3.1 Justification and scope of priority, thereby establishing a typology. Secondly, 
the work1 specific and appropriate actions are indicated in 
order to promote the progress of the different types 
Since its creation at the end of 2020, the Barcelo- of targets. The proposal is an exercise in reflection 
na 2030 Agenda has been progressively incorpo- that aims to be agile and useful, and ultimately able 
rating improvements in the definition of the targets to rationally justify the prioritisation of the adapted 
to be achieved within each SDG and the key indi- SDG targets. In any case, it will have to be contrasted 
cators for monitoring them. However, there is also and debated with the different sectors of the 
the need to define a method that prioritises the dif- municipal organisation and with the city’s economic, 
ferent targets, so that the Agenda can contribute social and environmental organisations, as part of 
more effectively to the focus and improvement of a broader process of reviewing and updating the 
municipal policies. 2030 Agenda.
The issue of prioritisation is relevant, because the 3.2 Methodology
Barcelona 2030 Agenda consists of 140 adapted 
targets, and not all of them are of the same impor- A multi-criteria analysis procedure is proposed 
tance for the city; or, even if they are, they respond to prioritise the SDG targets. This system allows 
to economic forces or regulatory frameworks that decisions based on objective criteria to be made 
greatly reduce the impact that can be made by lo- and presented on the basis of a decision matrix 
cal government. There is currently no documented that connects the elements to be assessed (SDG 
example in the academic literature of how to carry targets) with the assessment criteria proposed, 
out a prioritisation process of this kind at municipal allowing them to be expanded further, if deemed 
level, as all the experiences refer to the national level. necessary. 
This work proposes a set of objective criteria to The following graph summarises the analytical 
analyse the SDG targets and establish levels of scheme applied.
Priority 
groups Distance 
criterion 
analysis 
Result:  
Combination of criteria: priority groups according to 
Distance + Capacity need for care 
to influence  
Result: Range 
of Capacity Analysis of 
to influence “CCE” criteria 
1  Section developed in collaboration with Carlos Illán and Julia Urquijo, from the REDS entity (Spanish Sustainable 
Development Network).
146
3.2.1 Analysis of the distance The degree of achievement of a target can be de-
(with respect to the 2030 target) duced from the need to devote more or less attention 
and more or less effort to that target. As a general 
The prioritisation process is based on an analysis of rule, we believe that the relationship is inversely 
the degree of implementation of each operational tar- proportional: the greater the achievement, the less 
get. This is calculated on the basis of the observed the need for (extra) attention, and vice versa.
gap or distance from the desired value for the year 
20302. Specifically, the percentage difference be- This analysis was carried out for all the targets that 
tween the expected value and the real value observed had an operational definition for 2030 and at least 
during the last year is measured for each indicator. one quantitative indicator with data (a total of 75) 3. 
The remaining 65 targets, for which it has not been 
The expected value is the percentage increase ex- possible to calculate the distance due to a lack 
pected in each of the points (years) of the time se- of indicators or collated information, have been 
ries, in relation to the starting point, assuming that grouped into another priority group, number 4 
the progression is linear and that the entire operat- (Table 2). In these cases, specific attention needs 
ing target is to be reached in 2030. In order to be to be paid to the fact that the priority is to have 
able to carry out the analysis in a homogeneous data that allow the “distance” to be measured with 
manner, the units in all indicators must be convert- respect to the operational target and to become 
ed into percentages and negative ratios must be part of group 1, 2 or 3, depending on the results.
converted into positive ones.
3.2.2 Impact capacity analysis
It should be noted that the monitoring of each of the 
targets is carried out on the basis of one or more The second major factor to be analysed is 
indicators. Should there be more than one indica- Barcelona City Council’s impact capacity on the 
tor, the score of the target has been calculated by target. This “impact capacity” is understood as the 
taking the average of the different scores of its in- availability and application of resources (strategic, 
dicators. Another equally or more justifiable option regulatory, budgetary, technical, etc.) by Barce-
would be to calculate the distance only by consid- lona City Council. To measure this, the following 
ering the indicator that is most relevant and robust three criteria are analysed for each SDG target:
for the monitoring of the progress of the target.
Î Strategic relevance: This verifies and 
On a discretionary basis and as a result of differ- measures the presence (or absence) of 
ent tests, the thresholds between categories have the target within the existing municipal 
been set at 10%, considering three categories. planning instruments. Or, put another way, 
CATEGORIES DEFINITION
Long distance Negative difference greater than 10% of the expected value compared to the observed value. 
Medium distance Distance between +/-10% of the estimated value and the observed value.
Short distance Positive difference greater than 10% of the estimated value compared to the observed value.
Distance to the Points Priority group Level of attention Applied to BCN’s SDG targets
2030 target required
No. of targets %
Long 3 Group 1 High attention 28 20%
Medium 2 Group 2 Medium attention 35 25%
Short 1 Group 3 Low attention 12 9%
Indeterminate Group 4 Specific attention 65 46%
Total 140 100%
2  It was first considered to complete the analysis of the distance with the analysis of the trend of the target (positive or negative) 
with respect to the expected value in the year 2030. However, it was found that if the analysis referred to the entire period 
2015-2022, the trend and distance variables gave practically identical results. For this reason, one was discarded in order to 
simplify the model.
3  Cal tenir en compte que l’estudi es va tancar al setembre de 2022 i entretant ja es disposa d’indicadors operatius per 
a algunes d’aquestes fites. Això, però, no treu validesa a les conclusions de l’estudi. També cal tenir en compte que hi ha 
fites mesurades amb indicadors dicotòmics, que caldria reconvertir en numèrics.
147
the degree of alignment of the target with However, this criterion raises the fundamental 
municipal policies. question of whether it is necessary to prioritise 
the targets that have a higher degree of strategic 
Î Formal competence: Measures the level relevance – because they have already been en-
of power and responsibility that the laws shrined as such in other documents – or whether, 
grant to the City Council with regard to on the other hand, it is necessary to prioritise – and 
the target. devote more attention and effort to those targets 
that, although they are consistent with the United 
Î Budgetary effort: Measures the level Nations 2030 Agenda, have not (yet) found a place 
of municipal expenditure attributable to in the municipal strategy.
the target.
Formal competence
Strategic relevance
This criterion raises the need to understand the 
The working hypothesis is that when an SDG level of municipal responsibility with respect to the 
target incorporates key elements (formulation, adapted SDG target as a key factor in implementing 
activities, resources, indicators, monitoring and the agenda at the local level (REDS, 2020). The 
evaluation system, and so on) from one or more analysis of municipal competences is complex, 
of Barcelona City Council’s sectoral plans and/ due to the different levels of existing competences 
or strategies, it can be assumed that its strategic (exclusive, shared, indistinct), the mechanisms by 
relevance is high. which competences are attributed (by law, dele-
gated, by subjection, etc.), and the sectorial nature 
Beforehand, this criterion is the one that presents of the regulated aspects. It should also be borne in 
the least methodological challenges, since the mind that a municipal public service created under 
assignment of the score for the criterion is objective the umbrella of a competence can be managed 
and easy to verify based on the review of the cor- directly or indirectly, a factor that also has some 
responding policies/plans/strategies. The list of impact on the Council’s influential capacity. 
the main strategies, plans, programmes and gov-
ernment measures approved by the City Council in There is currently no complete inventory of the com-
the period 2020-2022 has been used to apply the petences attributed to Barcelona City Council. 
criterion, taking as a reference the alignment be- A more or less exhaustive mapping of the compe-
tween SDGs and municipal measures described tences associated with the SDG targets, taking into 
in the 2020 report of the Barcelona 2030 Agenda. account the municipal areas involved and the level 
of inter/intra-institutional coordination, would be 
There are also three categories used to analyse a valuable contribution to understanding both the 2030 
strategic relevance: Agenda and the governance of Barcelona City Council.
Category and score Rule applied
High strategic relevance 
When the target is already part of a policy/plan/strategy and its formulation is explicit
(3 points)
When, although the target is part of a policy/plan/strategy, its formulation is very generic 
Average strategic relevance 
and/or slightly different from the one adapted, and/or its values need to be updated and/
(2 points)
or some relevant aspect for monitoring and/or implementation needs to be defined.
Low strategic relevance When the target is not reflected in any policy/plan/strategy or is addressed in a very 
(1 point) limited and/or imprecise manner.
148
The mandatory competences are quite clearly Budgetary effort
defined according to the Local Government Code 
and the Barcelona Municipal Charter. It is more The third criterion for assessing the impact capacity 
complicated to differentiate between delegated, refers to the volume of public resources that are 
shared or indistinct competences. Fernández- spent on the achievement of each target.
Rubio Hornillos’ doctoral thesis on municipal 
competences proposes a typology that has One obvious option for making this criterion 
proved useful in structuring this criterion. operational was to use the work on linking budget 
programmes (more than 400 analysed) with the 
In order to reduce the complexity of the model SDGs, carried out by the City Council’s Budget 
and ensure consistency with the other criteria, it Department since 2019 and also presented in this 
has been reduced to three very simple categories: report (see section 2). The fact is, however, that 
high, medium or low level competences. a more refined analysis was needed for this criteri-
on, capable of linking the 400 budget programmes 
It works under the hypothesis that there would to the 140 SDG targets. Beyond the size of the 
not be any 0-scoring targets; in other words, task itself, it is often difficult to determine the pro-
where there are no competences, because these portion of the budget allocation that corresponds 
would have to be the 31 UN targets that have not to each target, especially when a target is financed 
been incorporated into the set of targets adapted through different programmes, or when the budget 
by the City Council (a total of 138). Were any case programme does not specify its content very well. 
to arise, it would be necessary to analyse it in Other difficulties with this option are that most of 
a particular way. the programmes do not include staff costs, that 
the general government costs are found in specific 
In this criterion, the interpretation of the conse- programmes (which prevents them from being 
quences that may derive from it is not unequivocal attributed to earmarked programmes aligned with 
either. Does it make more sense to concentrate SDG targets) and that investments are only partially 
efforts on those targets that only depend on the allocated to them.
City Council itself or on those, often of greater 
complexity and impact, that require an effort of In view of these difficulties and limitations, it has 
coordination with other administrations? With been decided to use an alternative model, namely 
regard to shared competences, it is therefore the cost accounting model, which has been widely 
important to differentiate between those in which developed in the City Council and is known as the 
concerted action is almost essential for the effec- “ABC cost model”. This entails attributing all mu-
tiveness of the policy, and those in which the City nicipal expenditure only to earmarked activities. In 
Council intervenes in a merely ancillary fashion. other words, those that make sense by themselves 
as a service or provision of public value to the 
Category and score Rule applied
High formal competence 
When the target is within the exclusive competence of the Council
(3 points)
Average formal competence 
When the target is in an area of shared competence with other administrations. 
(2 points)
Low formal competence 
When the target is of an indistinct area of competence
(1 punt)
149
citizens. This means that all indirect and structural Establishing the thresholds of what is understood 
costs, which have no direct value but are neces- as “discrete”, “reasonable” or “important” is an-
sary for the final services to function, are added other aspect that presents methodological chal-
to the direct costs of each activity, following spe- lenges. For example, the volume of expenditure is 
cific calculation formulas. This results in the total less important in the provision of services than in 
cost of the activity. We could say that it is a form of the construction of infrastructures.
accounting that better reflects what is of real interest 
to the citizen/user. Finally, another very important aspect, but one 
that goes far beyond the scope of this analysis, 
However, this model is also not without its prob- is the identification and quantification of the 
lems. The main one being that the SDG targets expenditure of other administrations on services 
defined do not fit conceptually with some of the and investments made in Barcelona. On this point, 
most important municipal activities, such as the first and most feasible challenge would be to 
culture or sports (which do not feature explicitly analyse the expenditure of the consortia, chaired 
in the 2030 Agenda). There are also a number by the Government of Catalonia and in which Bar-
of costs that the model interprets as non-finalist, celona City Council participates, which ensure 
but which correspond to SDG targets (for example, the provision of three pillars of the Welfare State: 
a large part of international relations), and it health, education and social services (specialised).
has not been possible to reflect this. It is also 
the case that some large-scale activities (e.g. Integrated calculation of the City Council’s 
primary and secondary schools, attributed to impact capacity
various targets within SDG 4) include costs 
that are partly attributable to other targets (e.g. The following table shows the distribution of the 
improvements to schools to make them more targets according to the score obtained for each 
resilient in the face of climate change, which criterion analysed.
would be target 13.1). 
RELEVANCE COMPETENCES EXPENDITURE
It should also be noted that, due to time con- No. of No. of No. of 
Score targets % targets % targets %
straints, the costs generated by district activities 
(just over EUR 200 million in total) have not been 3 104 74% 60 43% 26 19%
included in the calculation of the criterion, nor has 2 15 11% 8 6% 34 24%
it been taken into account that there are activities 
1 21 15% 72 51% 80 57%
that also generate income (for example, music 
schools or the zoo), which would reduce the total 0
amount of expenditure in some areas. 140 140 140
Having assumed these limitations, the activities Once the three criteria for each target have been 
have been linked to the SDG targets and classified assessed, it is possible to combine them to estab-
according to the following scale: lish a range for the City Council’s impact capacity.
Category and score Rule applied
High budgetary effort The target is assigned a significant budgetary effort for its achievement: more than 
(3 points) EUR 20 million.
Moderate budgetary effort The target is assigned a reasonable budgetary effort for its achievement: between 
(2 points) EUR 2 and EUR 20 million.
The target is assigned a discrete budgetary effort for its achievement: EUR 0 to EUR 
Low budgetary effort 
2 million, or when it has not been possible to estimate the budgetary effort linked to 
(1 point)
the target.
150
IMPACT CAPACITY
Range Score Explanation
3+3+3 Three criteria with the highest score
(a) very high
3+3+2 Two criteria with the highest score and one with a moderate score.
3+3 At least two criteria with the highest score 
(b) high
3+2+2 One criterion with the highest score and the other two with a moderate score.
3+2 At least one criterion with maximum score and one other criterion with moderate 
(c) medium
3 score A criterion with the highest score.
2+2
(d) low At least one or two criteria with moderate scores
2
1+1+1
(e) very low 1+1 All criteria with a low score
1
3.2.3 Integration of the “distance 
to the 2030 target” and “impact 
capacity” criteria: Analysis of 
results and conclusions
By combining the priority groups defined using the 
criterion of distance to the 2030 target with the 
established impact capacity ranges, 20 priority 
categories or groups can be defined, according to 
the following matrix.
CAPACITY
PRIORITY (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) 
GROUP very high high medium low very low
DISTANCE
1 high 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e
2 medium 2a 2b 2c 2d 2e
3 low 3a 3b 3c 3d 3e
4 no data 4a 4b 4c 4d 4e
151
To make the prioritisation exercise simpler, more 
practical and useful, it is proposed to group the 
categories and leave them at only 11. The results 
are shown in the following table.
PRIORITY CAPACITY (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) 
Total
GROUP DISTANCE very high high medium low very low
1 high ab cd 28
2 medium ab cd 35
e
3 low ab cd 12
4 no data a b c d 65
By multiplying the results of “Need for attention” 
by those of “ impact capacity”, we can obtain the 
priority range of the SDG targets of each group. This 
implies assuming that the three impact capacity 
criteria have a linear and positive interpretation (the 
greater the relevance, competences and expenditure, 
the higher the priority), despite the methodological 
doubts expressed throughout the study.
Need for 
Group Impact capacity No. of SDG targets Priority range
attention
1ab High 16 Maximum (9 points)
1cd High Medium 4 High (6 points)
1e Very low 8 Medium (3 points)
2ab High 16 High (6 points)
2cd Medium Medium 10 Medium (4 points)
2e Very low 9 Low (2 points)
3ab High 6 Medium (3 points)
3cd Low Medium 5 Low (2 points)
3e Very low 1 Low (1 point)
4a Very high 4
4b Insufficient High 15
The priority is to have an operational 
4c data for Medium 13
and measurable target
4d evaluation Low 5
4e Very low 28
Beyond its potential to establish an objective 
model for prioritising the targets, the analysis pro-
posed can help to gain a better understanding of 
the situation of each target (what level of support it 
has achieved, how much it is present in municipal 
strategies, what competences it has and what 
resources it has), and what shortcomings need 
to be addressed, which can be methodological 
(operationalising the target, having indicators 
available, etc.), strategic (coherence between 
SDG targets and municipal strategic objectives), 
competence-based (strengthened multi-level 
cooperation, increased competences, etc.) or 
budgetary (increase of the budget allocation, 
improvement in the efficiency of spending, etc.).
152
153
154
4.
Conclusions and 
perspectives
155
4 Conclusions and perspectives In the 3rd quarter of 2022, Barcelona’s GDP in-
creased by 5.1% compared to the same quarter 
4.1 On the results of the in 2021, maintaining a growth dynamic higher 
monitoring indicators than that recorded both in Catalonia and Spain. 
The nominal income of Barcelona’s households 
was 4% higher than in 2019, but due to inflation 
The year 2020 will leave a noticeable, if not dra- its real purchasing power had fallen by 8% com-
matic, mark on most of the context indicators of pared to the same year. If inflation is concentrat-
the Barcelona 2030 Agenda. We have been able ed in the most basic items, such as food, housing 
to verify and measure the full extent of this “set- and transport, inequality is overflowing, and the 
back” one or two years after the fact, when we social policy containment dyke, however well en-
have been able to access new data correspond- forced, does not seem capable of withstanding. 
ing to the years 2020, 2021 and 2022. From the It is not surprising that, given this situation, the 
middle of 2021, if not more so in Europe, we have consumer confidence index in Barcelona has 
experienced two apparently parallel processes, fallen for three six-month periods in a row (June 
but in reality they are strongly interconnected, 2021-December 2022). 
almost like communicating vessels. On the one 
hand, the slow but unstoppable recovery from There are areas, such as citizen safety or the eval-
the pandemic, underpinned by the effectiveness uation of municipal management, in which the 
of vaccination, which first led to the rapid recov- discrepancy in results between objective indica-
ery of economic activity and then social activity, tors and subjective indicators is quite clear. Crime 
reaching levels very similar to those of 2019 in is down substantially, but the feeling of insecurity 
most sectors. On the other hand, the recovery of is much less so. The City Council provides services 
the negative phenomena that usually accompany and pays suppliers promptly, and completes its 
economic activity, such as atmospheric pollution, operational targets, but the evaluation of the munic-
housing rental prices, road congestion and certain ipal management is in decline, with an increasingly 
types of crime. extreme polarisation of public opinion. The social 
reality is very complex, because it is constructed 
The most remarkable fact, however, is that the from the interaction between these two elements: 
expected post-pandemic “rebound effect” has facts and perceptions. And how events are per-
been neither homogeneous nor complete. On ceived and interpreted depends to a large extent 
the positive side, neither pollution nor crime have on the ideological/discursive markers prevailing in 
returned – for the moment – to pre-2019 levels. the city at each moment in history.
They are significantly lower, and perhaps we are 
facing very hopeful structural changes in our city. 4.2 On the construction and 
We also find that there are negative changes that development of Barcelona’s 2030 
could be long-lasting. One of them is education-
al performance, at least in primary school pupils, Agenda
as measured in this report. It has slipped a couple 
positions and it looks like it will be difficult to re- Probably the most innovative – and daring – aspect 
cover them. Another basic phenomenon at risk is of the Barcelona 2030 Agenda is the quantifica-
people’s participation in social life. We are not talk- tion of the targets. This is specifically designed as 
ing about citizen participation, in the more political a way of shielding the “facts” and reinforcing the 
sense of the term, but rather about involvement in objectivity of the analysis of whether or not the 
local organisations and projects, in the neighbour- city is on the way to achieving the Sustainable 
hood. The trend was already visible before 2020, Development Goals. It is worth going into a little 
but it seems to have increased. Moreover, the eco- more detail about how this has been developed, 
nomic recovery, which this time has been accom- because it is an essential point. Many of the “lo-
panied by a more effective protection of employ- calised” SDG targets have been defined and 
ment and wages, has been hindered by the sharp specified in intense participatory processes, espe-
increase and, for the time being, sustained rise in cially within the framework of the Agreement for an 
inflation. The reasons for this are diverse, ranging Inclusive Barcelona and the Commitment to 
from the breakdown of global supply chains to en- a Sustainable Barcelona. Nevertheless, except 
ergy shortages and the havoc caused by climate in those cases in which the target has been set 
change. And on top of that, we have a war in Eu- as an absolute (“eradicate”, “reduce to zero”...), 
rope; a long and exhausting war that destroys and because they refer to intolerable social wrongs, in 
drains resources without any end in sight. all other cases there is no pre-established objective 
156
and/or formal criterion for setting the target. The both from mistakes and, above all, from errors, there-
solution has been to choose a numerical value for by preventing preconceived ideas from (excessively) 
each indicator for the “year 2030”, based on the distorting our perception of social reality and the 
continuum between the maximum transformational impact of our actions on this reality.
ambition and the realistic estimate of the possi-
bilities of achieving the desired result. The result, The year 2023, when the SDGs reach the mid-
however, is that there are SDG targets that are point of their period of validity (2016-2030), will be 
much more ambitious than others, and this puts a key moment in determining the 2030 Agenda’s 
them at an advantage in terms of visibility and capacity to have an impact, both globally and at 
resources, but at a disadvantage when it comes the national and local levels. The United Nations 
to evaluation. The greater the list of expectations, will organise an extraordinary summit in Septem-
the more difficult it is to achieve success. For this ber to take stock of the situation and relaunch 
reason, at the risk of contradicting the previous global action.
section, it is considered that the direction of the 
movement of the indicator is as or more important Before then, at the end of May, Barcelona will 
than the distance to the target (are we getting too hold its tenth democratic municipal elections. 
far away?). Are we getting closer? How fast?). The new government that is elected will have to 
contend with, among other challenges, the renew-
In a complex, dynamic and increasingly uncertain al of Barcelona’s commitment to sustainability, 
socio-political environment, the SDGs can be very which should be stronger and broader. The start of 
useful as a mechanism for guidance, prioritisation a new term of office and the fact that we now have 
and warning, both for the City Council and for the a set of sectoral strategies with a 2030 timeframe 
city as a whole. That is why we consider it very and an integrated territorial strategy with a view 
important and positive that municipal planning in to ERDF funds (for the period 2021-2027) should 
recent years has been mostly geared towards the lead to a review of the SDG targets and the shap-
2030 deadline. In times of turbulence and rapid ing of an even more solid Barcelona 2030 Urban 
change it may seem contradictory to extend the Agenda that is perfectly integrated with the city’s 
planning timeframe, but if the context is changing ambitions and municipal organisation. 
our living conditions so rapidly (the climate, the 
social structure, the production system), there is This will mean having powerful antennae, which 
also a need to provide transformative collective re- will allow good communication in order to be at-
sponses that are up to date and provide an effec- tentive to changes and the demands of society. 
tive response to these changes. And this requires The spaces for cooperation regarding the 2030 
an ambitious vision and persistent and continuous Agenda created between 2020 and 2021 can per-
action that goes beyond the four years of a munic- form this role: The Cross-cutting Commission for 
ipal term of office. internal coordination, the Steering Committee for 
the participation of social and economic agents, 
The SDGs provide a general approach that can and the Academic Advisory Council, for being well 
be shared by a majority of society. However, the connected with the new knowledge. 
priorities, approaches and, above all, the ways 
of advancing towards the targets may differ; Last but not least, there is a need to forge alliances 
either through ideological conviction or, equally beyond the city limits. Barcelona is an actor that 
validly, through a process of learning about what is listened to and respected, one that wants to 
works and what does not work to achieve certain share missions, objectives and efforts at different 
objectives. This is why the commitment to territorial levels, as well as involve itself generous-
a medium- and long-term strategy must always ly in spaces such as the Catalonia 2030 Alliance, 
be accompanied by a strong commitment to eval- the SDG network promoted by the FEMP, and the 
uation, review and adaptation. The ability to learn, global movement of cities for the SDGs.
157
158
Appendix: 
Report on 
promotion and 
communication 
actions
159
Barcelona 2030 Agenda Tunis and Amman, was presented, as well as 
Conference (2nd edition) how administrations at different levels can better 
coordinate action for the SDGs. The second day 
was dedicated to one of the most critical factors 
On 29 and 30 November 2022, the Second Bar- for sustainable development: energy. Because 
celona 2030 Agenda Conference was held at the transition to forms of energy that do not 
the Barcelona Activa Auditorium. They were two generate greenhouse gas emissions is an ab-
days of fully face-to-face meetings, designed to solute necessity, one which needs to be made 
generate exchange, thought and transformative compatible with economic health and social 
energy. Faced with such a complicated scenario, welfare. This is an extremely complex challenge, 
we asked ourselves how the SDGs could have which requires a strong and cross-cutting polit-
a positive influence on city governance, driving ical commitment, but also great flexibility in the 
change and reporting on the work done. The ex- methods, with the ability to learn quickly from all 
perience of Barcelona and other cities, such as successful experiences.
160
Conference programme Annual Report on the Barcelona 2030 Agenda, 
highlights and reflections
First block: A 2030 Agenda that transforms cities
Julia Urquijo, REDS Researcher and lecturer at the 
Keynote speech: How can the SDGs shape the Polytechnic University of Madrid
policy agenda of cities?
Towards a model for prioritising SDG targets
Pablo Martínez Osés, member of the Global 
Collective and Coordinator of the Coherence for Presented and moderated by: Bàrbara Pons, 
Sustainable Development Index Commissioner of the 2030 Agenda of the Barce-
lona Council
Session 1: The SDGs and city action against 
inequality: a Mediterranean perspective Session 4: The 2030 Agenda: a city, metropolitan 
and country strategy?
Ainara Fernández Tortosa, Senior Researcher at 
United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)  Î Marina Espinosa, Coordinator of Cor-
porate Strategy and Local Coordination, 
Addressing inequalities through local transfor- Barcelona Provincial Council
mation strategies: Commoning, Caring, Con-
necting, Renaturing, Prospering, Democratizing Î Oriol Estela, Director of the Barcelona 
2030 Strategic Metropolitan Plan
Nasir Qandeel, Head of the Department for Interna-
tional Relations and Technical Support in Amman Î Arnau Queralt, Director of the Advisory 
Council for Sustainable Development of 
Amman’s first VLR-2022 Catalonia
Lofti Ben Aisa, President of City Strategy in Tunis Î Gabriel Castañares, Director General of Lev-
eraging Policies for the implementation of the 
Tunis urban development strategy 2030 Agenda of the Government of Spain
Presented and moderated by Oriol Barba, Director Presented and moderated by: Mariona Tomàs, 
of MedCités Lecturer at the University of Barcelona
Session 2: The 2030 Agenda, does it help to Second block: Energy, economy and sustainability
govern and manage better?
Session 5: Obstacles, levers and best practices 
Marc Balaguer, Director of the Catalan Institute for on the cities’ road to climate neutrality
the Evaluation of Public Policies (IVALUA)
Î Marc Vilà, Director of Infrastructures and 
Assessments and the 2030 Agenda: Opportuni- Sustainability at Mercabarna
ties, Challenges and Constraints
Î Daniel Ibáñez, Director General of the 
Raffaele Sisto, CEO of Smart&City Solutions and Catalan Institute of Advanced Architec-
lecturer ture (IAAC)
Why assess impacts (in SDG terms)? Presented and moderated by: Cristina Castells, 
Director of the Energy Agency of Barcelona
Presented and moderated by: Tamyko Ysa 
(Professor of Strategy and Public Management Session 6: Decarbonised... and prosperous? 
at ESADE) Economic outlook of the cities of 2030
Session 3: Annual report on the Barcelona 2030 Î Enric Tello, Professor of Economic History 
Agenda at the University of Barcelona 
Ramon Canal, Director of the Office for Technical Î Pedro Fresco, Director General of Econom-
Programming, Barcelona City Council ic Transition of the Generalitat Valenciana
161
Presented and moderated by: Marc Montlleó, City Council has created the Barcelona 2030 
Head of Barcelona Regional Environmental and Agenda Awards with the aim of recognising 
Energy Efficiency Area and disseminating these practices, reward-
ing the most outstanding in terms of innovation 
Session 7: Barcelona and the European and quality. 
Mission 100 Climate-Neutral Cities by 2030
The call for entries was open to any natural or 
Î Jordi Peris, General Coordinator of Urban legal person registered in the city of Barcelona 
Strategies and Sustainable Agenda, or its metropolitan area, and actions carried 
Valencia City Council out over the previous two years could also be 
presented, as well as actions which despite not 
Î Santiago Saura, Councillor of the Area yet being completed had already been imple-
Internationalisation and Cooperation, mented and had generated some form of impact. 
Madrid City Council A multidisciplinary jury, made up of experts in 
each of the categories of the Awards, evaluated 
Î Bàrbara Pons, Commissioner of the 2030 the candidatures according to a set of pre-es-
Agenda of the Barcelona Council tablished criteria, such as impact on the 
SDGs, originality, participation, coherence and 
Presented and moderated by: Julio Lumbre- replicability.
ras, Lecturer at the UPM and coordinator of 
CitiEs  The first edition of the Barcelona 2030 Agenda 
Awards consisted of five categories divided into 
Closing speech: The energy crisis and the ten sub-categories.
SDGs: An opportunity?
Î Business Initiatives Category (sub-cate-
Natalia Fabra, Professor of Economics at the gories 1, 2 and 3)
Universidad Carlos III of Madrid.
Î Social Initiatives Category (sub-catego-
4.3 Barcelona 2030 Agenda ries 4 and 5)
Awards (1st edition)
Î Media Category (sub-categories 6 and 7)
The Sustainable Development Goals imply such Î Educational Projects Category (sub-cate-
important transformations to the production, gories 8 and 9)
consumption and social organisation models 
that they can only be achieved with the contri- Î Cities Category (sub-category 10)
bution of all actors in society. Many entities and 
companies in Barcelona are carrying out actions A total of 75 candidatures were presented and the 
with a positive impact on the SDGs. Barcelona following were awarded prizes: 
Type Winning Project Outstanding merits
candidature
1. SME Business Transportes Bus4.me, on demand open bus platform Become an innovative and high-
Initiatives Generales de that allows stops to be added or removed, impact approach, which focuses on 
Olesa, S.A.U. bus schedules to be modified and bus the inequality gap and is oriented 
capacity to be increased or reduced, towards sustainable mobility, 
offering a connected service where there offering an efficient, flexible and 
is currently no possibility of offering safe mobility service to citizens.
a traditional service.
2. Business Empresa Climate Action Hub, an open, dynamic Become an open innovation 
Initiatives of Metropolitana and multidirectional space with more initiative aimed at raising awareness 
large companies de Gestió del than 36 member organisations, in order and citizen action in the face 
Cicle Integral to set out lines of action and efficient of the climate emergency and 
de l’Aigua, climate practices. make a remarkable effort to align 
S.A. itself with the SDGs by involving 
its employees.
162
Type Winning Project Outstanding merits
candidature
3. Awareness- Zona Franca Barcelona Zona Franca Women’s Become a major awareness-raising 
raising campaign de Barcelona Council; a consultative council that campaign which, by placing women 
on the SDGs Consortium has been set up as a pressure group at the heart of the Zona Franca 
promoted by in Barcelona’s main industrial estate; Consortium’s business model, can 
a company promotes gender equality through good become a major lever for change 
practices, awareness-raising actions, towards gender equality.
debates and initiatives such as the School-
Industry-Stream programme.
4. Contribution to Sarrià Local Project for the promotion and Mobilise and lead the involvement 
the SDGs made Residents localisation of the 2030 Agenda  of the local residents to reflect on 
in a non-profit Association in the neighbourhood and communicate the importance 
organisation or by of the SDGs and their arrival in the 
a citizen’s initiative Sarrià neighbourhood, undertaking 
a wide range of actions and media 
(debates, neighbourhood councils, 
art, etc.).
5. Awareness Coordinator “And what do you choose? I choose Its originality and its great impact. 
campaign on the for fair trade fair trade” campaign, which aims to get It raises social awareness about 
SDGs promoted and ethical people to reflect on the economic, social consumption and promotes 
by a not-for- finance and/or environmental impact of their daily initiatives that contribute to 
profit entity purchases and to make them aware of all gender equality, decent work, 
the possibilities available to them. environmental protection and the 
reduction of inequalities.
6. Media with the Anna Grimau News coverage through reports and The dissemination of initiatives that 
best coverage of Bigaire (TVE articles that explain in a clear and can help to combat the climate 
news related to Catalunya) pedagogical manner the importance of emergency and to live in a more 
the SDGs carrying out gestures, actions and initiatives sustainable and healthy way, both for 
that promote the achievement of the SDGs. people, in fairer and more egalitarian 
societies, and for the planet.
7.Best journalist Local Espai Públic 2030, a weekly programme Present different points of view 
report on SDGs Communication that, using a local story, covers the that make us reflect on the 
published in Network determining elements of the 17 SDGs of global challenges, through well-
Barcelona’s media the 2030 Agenda in a didactic, thought- constructed audiovisual stories 
provoking and comprehensive way, that show the need to achieve 
showing the need to achieve them. the objectives set out in the 2030 
Agenda.
8. Contribution to Escola CUINES Project. The aim is for children, Apply an experimental, highly 
the SDGs made in Octavio Paz teachers and families to approach the original and creative pedagogical 
a primary school gastronomic and culinary heritage from approach that tackles the SDGs 
different perspectives, concerns and needs. through reflection and practice, 
The project aims to awaken a sense of focusing on the impact that food 
self-improvement in children and raise their and cooking have on health, 
awareness of fair and healthy consumption. society, the economy and the 
It promotes equality, cultural diversity and environment.
the gender perspective, as well as curiosity, 
entrepreneurship and sustainability.
9. Contribution to Institut Rafael “Towards a global tribe” project by Set out a learning challenge in 
the SDGs made Casanova the third year ESO group, covering such terms of culture and values, that 
in a secondary diverse but interrelated topics as the is very coherent and continuous 
education centre environment, consumerism and migratory throughout the educational stage, 
movements. which aims to give the pupils 
a leading role, making them 
responsible for their own learning.
10. Contribution Viladecans MIA (Model of Innovation), which seeks Promote innovation as a value of the 
to the SDGs by an City Council to modernise and digitalise the municipal corporate culture of the City Council, 
individual city administration of Viladecans, with the aim which contributes to create a city 
of generating new opportunities for citizens strategy and to deploy it with city 
and improving their quality of life. projects aligned with the 2030 Agenda.
163
The 2030 Agenda Awards are honorary. Each of Î Escola Mercè Rodoreada
the winning candidates received the Barcelona 
2030 Agenda Award, designed by Emiliana Î Escola Octavio Paz
i Cocu through an open competition organised by 
Barcelona Fostering Arts and Design association. In Î Escola Rius i Taulet
addition, all the schools that presented a candida-
ture received another trophy, designed by Curro 
Claret. They were as follows: Secondary education schools and centres:
Primary schools: Î Barcelona Youth Council
Î Col·legi Públic Cervantes Î Assemblea de Cooperació per la Pau
Î Col·legi Públic Sant Vicenç Î Fundació Collserola (Escola Frederic 
Mistral – Tècnic Eulàlia)
Î Escola Concepción Arenal
Î Escola Espai 3 Î Institut Escola Puig i Gairalt 
Î Escola Ferran Sunyer Î Institut Eugeni d’Ors
Î Escola Joaquim Ruyra Î Institut Rafael Casanovas
164
The awards were presented on 30 November at Pluralism of the Department of Culture, Education, 
the Barcelona Activa Auditorium, in a ceremony Science and Community), “The Urban Quality of Life 
presented by the Honourable Laia Bonet, 3rd Index (new experimental statistics)” (joint project 
Deputy Mayor of Barcelona City Council, and between the Institute of Regional and Metropolitan 
hosted by the company ImproBarcelona. Studies of Barcelona and the Analysis Depart-
ment of the Municipal Data Office of the City 
International cooperation Council) and “Proposal for a subjective well- 
projects being indicator for Barcelona” (Commissioner for 
the 2030 Agenda).
Barcelona City Council participates in the “Urban Barcelona City Council also took part in the project 
quality of life indicator” project, financed by “Raising awareness of the 2030 Agenda at territo-
the Metròpolis cities organisation. It is organised rial level for the localisation of the SDGs”, financed 
by the city of Montreal, together with Barcelo- by the Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities 
na and with the participation of the metropolitan (UCCI). It was coordinated by the city of Monte-
region of Brussels. Its aim is to identify and develop video, with the participation of Sao Paulo and 
tools that allow progress to be made in measuring La Paz in addition to Barcelona. The aim was to 
the well-being and quality of life of the popula- improve the implementation of the SDGs in the 
tion living in cities, with the aim of improving the cities through the exchange of best practices and 
effectiveness of urban planning and policies. The experiences between the cities involved in the 
project has focused on four issues: 1. The aspects project and to develop a practical guide for UCCI 
of urban life that should be measured; 2. The cities on the implementation of strategies for 
availability of data in each of the cities con- education, awareness-raising, participation and 
cerned; 3. The hierarchy and relationship between communication of the SDGs in the regions. The 
objective and subjective quality of life indicators; experience was presented to the Platforma Awards, 
4. The need and feasibility of having disaggregable where it was one of the eight finalists. A second phase 
measures according to key variables, such as is being prepared, with an extended list of Latin 
gender, age, origin or district/neighbourhood. American cities.
In the framework of this project, a delegation from 
Barcelona will participate in Brussels in the pres-
entation of “Measuring the well-being to increase 
the effectiveness of urban Planning: A pilot project 
conducted in Montreal, Brussels and Barcelona”, 
as a session of the 58th World Planning Congress 
(ISOCARP). Afterwards, on 6 and 7 October, 
Barcelona hosted the second face-to-face meeting 
of the project, during which it organised the seminar 
“The challenge of measuring quality of life in cities”. 
It was an open event, aimed especially at social 
and public policy analysts, working in universities, 
esearch centres, the media and the administration 
itself. Various municipal departments and other 
organisations prepared presentations to be given The City Council collaborates with the Institute 
at the seminar. Specifically: “Targets and main for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), a Jap-
indicators of the Barcelona 2017-2027 Strategy anese government agency with a project on the 
for Inclusion and reduction of social inequalities” SDGs that has become a global benchmark for 
(Social Rights, Global Justice, Feminism and monitoring and analysing action regarding the 
LGBTI Area); “Health indicators and measuring 2030 Agenda carried out by local governments 
quality of life” (Public Health Observatory of the around the world. In addition to its reports, which 
Barcelona Public Health Agency), “Barcelona are included in the IGES Voluntary Local Reviews 
Intercultural Indicators (2022 Divide Report)” laboratory, Barcelona has regularly shared its 
(Department of Interculturality and Religious experience with the organisation’s technical team.
165