The Observatory of Discrimination, through the Office for Non-Discrimination (OND) and the Table of Entities with Victim Support Services for Discrimination (SAVD), has presented its annual report for 2025. The data reveals a 14.8% increase in recorded discrimination situations in the city, reaching a total of 1,265.
Racism and xenophobia top the list for the eighth consecutive year, with 348 incidents. Of these, 113 affected people from Latin America and 92 were anti-Muslim in nature. Women were the primary victims of this type of discrimination (163 cases).
The report highlights the growing concern within the educational community regarding the increase in hate speech, discriminatory attitudes, and the defense of far-right ideologies among students and teachers. This situation has led to a rise in discrimination cases within schools, exacerbated by misinformation spread online.
Linguistic discrimination due to the use of Catalan ranks second, with 284 incidents. Private entities are the main source of this discrimination, often demanding a switch to Spanish for service or denying services. The Barcelona City Council, through its commissioner for the social use of Catalan, is working to guarantee linguistic rights and promote the language.
The third discriminatory motive was health, with 268 incidents, 57% of which affected individuals with mental health diagnoses. Ableism (discrimination against people with disabilities) and LGTBphobia are the fourth and fifth motives, respectively. In the case of ableism, women with physical disabilities have seen a 106% increase in reported incidents. LGTBphobia has doubled, concentrating on gaiphobia and transphobia.
According to the Survey of Neighborly Relations and Coexistence (ECAMB 2024), 31.7% of Barcelona's population claims to have experienced discrimination. Individuals self-identifying as racialized, Black, or LGTBI show high percentages of experiencing discriminatory acts, reflecting a pattern of multiple discrimination where gender exacerbates the situation.
The Office for Non-Discrimination (OND) offers free and confidential support to victims of discrimination, whether in person, by phone, or online. The Taula SAVD entities carried out 2,056 support and accompaniment actions during 2025, primarily legal guidance.
