The mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, has proposed banning citizens of countries outside the European Union from buying second homes in the city, explaining that this is to combat speculative demand amid a protracted housing crisis. This primarily concerns buyers who purchase real estate not for permanent residence but as an investment asset. In February, Collboni himself said that if it were within his power, he would ban British, American, and other non-EU citizens from buying second homes in the Catalan capital.
At the moment, this is only a political initiative and not an adopted norm. At the same time, at the national level, the Spanish government announced in January 2025 its intention to significantly tighten the conditions for purchasing housing for non-residents from countries outside the EU, increasing the tax burden for them to 100% of the property value. This measure also remains a proposal and requires further legislative formalization.
Barcelona’s initiative is part of a broader policy by city authorities to cool the overheated housing market. Earlier, the city had already decided not to renew licenses for short-term tourist rentals, of which there are about 10,101 in Barcelona, after 2028. The authorities explain the tough stance by the fact that over the past ten years, the average rent in the city has increased by 68%, and the cost of purchasing housing by 38%.
According to official data from Idescat, at the beginning of 2025, 1,713,247 people lived in Barcelona, of whom 437,663 were foreigners, or 25.55% of the population. Accordingly, there were about 1.276 million Spanish citizens in the city. At the same time, if we look not at citizenship but at place of birth, according to the city report for 2024, 33.6% of Barcelona’s residents were born outside Spain, and those born directly in Barcelona accounted for only 46.1% of the population.
The largest diasporas in Barcelona by citizenship at the beginning of 2025 were Italian (50,754 people), Colombian (29,574), Pakistani (24,857), Chinese (22,333), Peruvian (22,105), Moroccan (19,300), and French (18,437). The city authorities separately noted that the statistics for Italian citizens also include many people born in Argentina with Italian passports.
Police investigators exposed the scheme of stealing budget funds during the repair work of a kindergarten in one of the cities of Kharkiv region, reports the press service of the Kharkiv regional Prosecutor’s office.
“This scam in 2021 was organized by the mayor of the locality…. Director of the firm (which carried out repairs) and two of his employees … All four perpetrators are reported on suspicion on the fact of seizure of other people’s property by abuse of their official position, committed on a large scale by an organized group (part 5 of article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), and on the fact of official forgery, committed by an organized group (part 3 of article 28, part 1 of article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)”, – stated in the message.
The name of the city is not specified in the message.
According to the investigation, during the execution of works in the reporting documentation were entered false data regarding the cost of used construction materials and the volume of work. In particular, the documents included works that were actually performed by employees of the municipal utility company of the city Council.
Thus, the members of the group managed to seize almost UAH 400 thousand of budget funds.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko and Hamburg Mayor Peter Chencher at a meeting in the Ukrainian capital discussed further assistance to Kiev, in particular the issue of providing autonomous emergency communication systems, Klitschko said
“Today met with the first mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg Peter Chencher. Thanked for the support and assistance of Hamburg to the Ukrainian capital. And agreed on further cooperation. We discussed with Mr. Chencher assistance of our German partners in providing Kiev with communication systems for emergency cases (in case of blackout). They are necessary today, in particular, for emergency stations, rescue workers, utilities, “- Klitschko wrote on his page on Facebook.
According to him, the issue of providing Kiev with the latest equipment for the warning system was also discussed.
“Very important for our city is the issue of safety of its residents. Kiev needs equipment for the latest warning system, which we have already begun to install. We are talking about a system for announcing air-raid alarms. To develop this system, we need more devices that work autonomously when there is no light. An example of a system that Kiev is installing now is the German one, among others. The mayor of Hamburg assured further assistance to Kiev – both in the current acute needs and in the future reconstruction of the capital of Ukraine”, – said Klitschko.
In addition, Hamburg has provided Kiev with three city buses as assistance, which are already on their way to Kiev.
Klitschko called on German partners to continue to support Ukraine until victory.
“Vladimir and I also talked to the German media and urged both the German authorities and German society to continue to support Ukraine and provide all necessary assistance for our victory and the establishment of peace in Europe,” said Vitali Klitschko.
As it was reported, Kiev and Hamburg signed the “Agreement for solidarity and future” on April 24, 2022. They agreed on a strategic partnership and support in times of crisis.
The mayors of Warsaw, Prague, Budapest and Bratislava are visiting Kiev, the Polish TV channel Polsat News has reported.
Details of the mayors’ visit to the Ukrainian capital are not yet known.
According to media reports, this is the first visit of Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski to Kiev after the war started.
On February 15, 2022, Trzaskowski, accompanied by Prague mayor Zdenek Grzyb on behalf of the Pact of Free Cities went to meet with Kiev mayor Vitaliy Klitschko.
Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, who visited Kiev at the invitation of the capital’s mayor Vitaly Klitschko, expressed admiration for the courage of the Ukrainian people and assured that she would do everything possible to ensure that partners continue to help Ukraine and Kiev.
“For Ukraine is Europe. And crimes against humanity are being committed in your country,” stressed the mayor of Barcelona, whose words are quoted on Vitaly Klitschko’s personal website.
In his turn, the mayor of Kiev thanked Ada Colau for his visit to Kiev during the wartime and for his help to Kiev residents who fled the war in Barcelona. He said that despite the difficulties caused by Russian terrorist attacks, the Kiev authorities are doing everything possible to provide life support to the city, provide services to its residents, restore the destroyed infrastructure and housing damaged by shelling, and set up heating stations.
“We understand that to overcome the challenges that Ukraine has faced, we continue to need strong assistance from international partners. Together we must defeat the enemy and restore security on our continent. And we will need your help very much for the post-war reconstruction of the country and the capital city in particular,” Vitaliy Klitschko emphasized, adding that today Kiev would welcome any possible help. First of all, in order to survive this difficult winter.
Thus, Kiev has already received 2 fire trucks from Barcelona as an aid. Barcelona promises to give another 2 such cars at the beginning of the next year. And also 4 powerful generators, the autocranes with load-carrying capacity up to 40 tons and protective suits for rescuers against various kinds of dangers.
Kiev and Barcelona signed a Memorandum of friendship between the cities on September 24 this year during the visit of Vitaliy Klitschko to Barcelona. Barcelona became the seventh European city with which Kiev has signed a twinning since the beginning of Russia’s large-scale aggression.
Mayor of Zaporizhia Volodymyr Buriak announced his intention to resign from the post of mayor for health reasons.
“Today, during a session of the Zaporizhia City Council, I announced my intention to resign from the post of mayor. You know that I was on sick leave and was examined. Considering that I was on the operating table three times, the doctors recommend that I take care of my health, because there are still several examinations to take,” Buriak wrote on his Facebook page.
He also said that he is not going to leave the city, he will not leave politics, and the party of Volodymyr Buriak “Yednannia” (Unity) will continue to participate in the development of the party and the city.
On November 25, 2015 Buriak took the oath of the mayor. On October 25, 2020, he was elected mayor of Zaporizhia for a second term.
