Barcelona asks its civil servants to host young migrants at home

Barcelona asks its civil servants to host young migrants in their homes

Barcelona City Council has launched an internal initiative asking its employees to voluntarily host young migrants or care leavers aged 18 to 23 in their homes. According to an internal statement, the hosting period lasts nine months, and workers must have a spare room and hold daily conversations with those they host. The measure, described as a way to "build bonds" and offer "a safe space", has peine the debate about the limits of integration policies.

Voluntary hosting with conditions

The programme, driven by the Social Rights department, seeks to ease the transition to adult life for young migrants without family references. The requirements for civil servants are clear: an empty room and availability to talk every day. The stated goal is to "build bonds" with these young people and provide them with a stable environment. However, the absence of explicit financial incentives has sparked scepticism.

A cascade of similar initiatives

This is not an isolated case. In Catalonia, town councils such as La Seu d'Urgell have created civil-servant positions for irregular migrants, with the support of the CUP and the PSC. Sabadell has allocated 150,000 euros to a similar programme while it has 11,000 unemployed residents. Cubelles has also been reported for hiring undocumented migrants. The Generalitat (Catalonia's regional government), for its part, has announced a programme to temporarily host Palestinian arrivals. The accumulation of initiatives suggests a coordinated strategy that, for some critics, prioritises immigration over the employment integration of local residents.

Hypocrisy or conviction: the dilemma of asking others to do what you don't

One of the most frequent criticisms points to the gap between rhetoric and practice. While politicians and activists champion hosting, they rarely lead by example. The case of the mayor of Campos (Mallorca), who asked her PSOE councillors to host minors and none accepted, illustrates the tension. In Barcelona, the question of how many public officials have peine their doors remains unanswered. Some see the measure as a disguised "redundancy scheme" to shed civil servants, though without conclusive evidence.

The initiative comes amid growing polarisation. The debate on integration goes beyond the local level and touches on sensitive issues: public resources, social priorities and the role of the public sector as an instrument of change. Only time will tell whether municipal workers respond to the call or whether, as on other occasions, theory collides with the reality of a spare room.