Lleida is the Catalan municipality with the largest socioeconomic gap between its neighbourhoods, according to the latest Territorial Socioeconomic Index (IST) from Idescat. The difference between the city's Historic Centre, with an index of 35.3, and Ciutat Jardí, at 134.6, is nearly 100 points.
This significant disparity, equivalent to a 10-minute car journey, highlights the contrast between the residential area of Ciutat Jardí and the Historic Centre, located around the Seu Vella hill. The four provincial capitals in Catalonia show the biggest differences between zones within the same municipality, with gaps exceeding 90 points between the most varied census sections.
In 2023, Matadepera, Tiana, and Sant Just Desvern were the most prosperous municipalities in Catalonia with over 1,000 inhabitants, based on the IST. Salt, Sant Pere Pescador, and Seròs were at the lower end of the scale. However, a detailed analysis by census section allows for a closer look at the richest and poorest areas across the country, and reveals contrasts within urban centres, particularly in larger cities.
Council Plans to Reduce Disparity
The socialist municipal government in Lleida acknowledges these income differences and states it is working to reduce them. This involves improving living conditions for lower-income residents and promoting new housing and facilities to attract new residents to disadvantaged areas. Carlos Enjuanes, Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Social Action and Innovation, told ACN that an integral plan for the Historic Centre includes a hundred actions. This plan will be largely funded by €25 million from the Neighbourhood Plan over the next five years.
Regarding housing in the Historic Centre, the council is promoting initiatives for shared housing and creating new affordable homes for young people through public-private partnerships. Enjuanes explained that several small plots have been freed up to create larger sites for quality housing construction. The council also aims to restore facilities like the former Cervantes school building and revitalise green spaces and public areas to attract not only young people but all residents.
Residents Call for Action
Cristina Armengol, president of the Association of Residents and Merchants of Lleida's Historic Centre, attributes the low incomes in the neighbourhood to a majority of "working people, often unskilled". She noted that more affordable rents, due to a lack of rehabilitation in old buildings, draw these individuals to the area. Armengol considers the rehabilitation of buildings and urban reform in the Historic Centre to be priorities. She added that while the investments announced by the council under the Neighbourhood Plan are "very good", residents need to "see actions and results".
Conversely, Ramir Bonet, president of the Ciutat Jardí Residents' Association, argues that the data does not accurately reflect his neighbourhood's reality. He stated that the area is home to "working people, such as technicians, civil servants, or entrepreneurs, who have their mortgages and work very hard". Bonet suggested that such rankings should use the median rather than the mean, as a single individual's economic activity can significantly alter the average result.
Despite its high socioeconomic indicator, the Ciutat Jardí residents' association reports a lack of public services. The neighbourhood already hosts a prison, a fire station, and a UdL campus. "We have one school and nothing else, and we want a nursery school because between 50 and 70 children are born here every year. We also do not have a day centre," Bonet complained. The association is also asking the council to install licence plate reader cameras at the neighbourhood's entrances and exits, as thieves currently have "very easy escape routes".
Municipalities with Less Extreme Values
Other municipalities, generally medium and small, show less differentiation between their census sections. One group consists of municipalities with mostly high indices, all above 100 points, which is the average for this indicator. These include Matadepera, Cardedeu, Montgat, Arenys de Munt, Viladecavalls, Fornells de la Selva, Teià, and Sant Just Desvern.
Another larger group of municipalities, with less elevated socioeconomic levels, also shows territorial balance in their indicators. Notable examples include El Pont de Suert, capital of Alta Ribagorça, where the section with the lowest IST (85) is only 14 points from the richest area (99). Similar ranges of separation between the highest and lowest indicators within a municipality are found in Llinars del Vallès (99-115), Vielha (93-108), Torelló (85-99), Maçanet de la Selva (84-97), Sallent (94-107), and L'Escala (80-90), among others.
