To get a protected flat in Barcelona (VPO in Spanish, HPO in Catalan) you don’t apply for a flat. You apply to a list.
The list is the Registre de Sol·licitants d’Habitatge amb Protecció Oficial, and no flat is awarded to anyone who isn’t on it. The requirements, from the Ajuntament:
- Be an adult (or a legally emancipated minor).
- Be registered as living in Barcelona (empadronat), at least the main applicant.
- Nobody in the household can own a home.
- Don’t go over the income limit for the kind of flat.
The limits are measured in multiples of the IRSC, Catalonia’s reference income (9,622.18 euros a year in 2026): 2.5 times for the special regime, 5 for the general one, 6.5 for the agreed-price one, which is also the ceiling to register at all. In euros, for the general regime in zone A (Barcelona and its first ring), that’s at most 64,147.87 a year for one person and 71,275.41 for four or more, once weighted for the zone (official table). Some calls also set a minimum: you have to be able to pay the rent.
Then each development opens its own call, and the flats go by lottery (a computer draw before a notary) or by points, with quotas: typically a quarter for people already living in the area, almost a third for under-35s, a tenth for single-parent families, a few adapted flats.
And one trap: if you’re awarded a flat and turn it down without a good reason, you’re off the list for five years.
I couldn’t confirm how long a registration lasts now (sources say one, two or three years). Safe answer: it expires, so renew it. If you know the current rule, tell me.
Two stories about how this goes in practice, not always well: L’Hospitalet social housing debt and UGT leaders’ protected flats.