Families travelling to Barcelona for medical treatment are struggling to find accommodation, with charities saying some are sleeping in cars or staying at campsites while they wait for care.
In 2025, 1,072 families secured temporary housing in Barcelona through organisations including the Josep Carreras Foundation and the Jubert Figueras Foundation. But 259 accommodation applications went unanswered because of limited resources, according to the charities. Carolina Oliva, a social health worker at the Catalan Institute of Oncology, said: “We have families, not just one or two, who we have found sleeping in their cars. Also, people who have to go to a campsite several kilometres away.”
One family from Girona, Anna and her daughter Judit, faced the problem last year when Judit underwent a double transplant at Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, about 100 km from home. After complications led to several months in hospital, Anna said she slept on a sofa in the hospital, showered at night with help from nurses, and then slept in the car for about two weeks. Doctors later brought in social services, which connected her with the Jubert Figueras Foundation and an apartment. “It changed everything. I knew that when I could, I had a place to go,” Anna said.
Charities are now calling for more support from public authorities. Marta Soler, vice-president of the Jubert Figueras Foundation, said the “large stock of closed housing” should be made available to citizens and social organisations. She also said Catalonia should follow France’s model, where the welfare state provides housing next to large tertiary hospitals so carers can stay in dignified conditions.
The charities currently manage 55 accommodations and 156 rooms in the Barcelona metropolitan area. These homes are used by families from elsewhere in Catalonia, from across Spain, and from abroad. Stays can last from one or two days for diagnostic tests to a year for transplant patients. For more on related coverage, see our news page.
The foundations say they want closer work with public administrations to expand housing capacity. They argue that better support would reduce pressure on families already dealing with serious illness and the added strain of finding somewhere to stay.
