For locals: volunteer
Be the neighbour you'd want on your first day.
Neighbour guides help newcomers find their feet, and their rights, in our barris.
A website can teach the law. Only a neighbour can teach the city.
Newcomers are being handed fake holiday leases because they don't know the rules, the language or anyone who does. One local who knows the way to the padró office, the health centre and the next assembly changes that.
Barcelona's barris were built by people who arrived with nothing and were taken in. Paco Candel called them els altres catalans (Wikipedia); their grandchildren are this city now. Castellers say it with Tots som una colla: the tower stands because everyone holds the base (betevé).
Every newcomer who has a neighbour is one who won't be used against you. Be that neighbour.
Fem pinya."Let's form the base": in a castell, hundreds of people hold the tower up together.What a guide does, and doesn't
A guide…
- helps one newcomer at a time with the first steps: registering on the padró, the health centre (CAP), school enrolment;
- points them to free legal advice and to what the law says about fake holiday leases;
- comes with them to their first tenants' assembly;
- offers some Catalan, over a coffee;
- introduces them to the neighbours on the stairs.
A guide doesn't…
- give legal advice: that's for the housing offices and the union;
- offer housing, handle money or keep anyone's documents;
- act alone in a crisis: an eviction notice or a lockout goes straight to the union.
How it works
- You apply here. It takes two minutes.
- Your application goes to a neighbourhood housing union in your district. Nobody else sees it.
- They invite you to a short interview, in person or by phone.
- A short briefing: the law on one page, how assemblies work, and how to keep yourself and the newcomer safe.
- You're introduced to a newcomer in your barri who has asked for a guide.
Your barri needs you.
Barcelona has done this before, barri by barri. Now it's your turn.
Apply to be a neighbour guide
It takes two minutes.