Real rental prices, housing mix and market trend in el Poble-sec.
Median rent
€1,346/month
Mean: €1,416/month
Price per m²
20.5€
Barcelona: 22.2€/m²
Trend
↓ 9.1%
€/m² vs previous period
Listings analyzed
148
Idealista listings
Prices, percentages and counts are calculated from Idealista listings of the last few months.
El Poble-sec lives between the Paral·lel and the hill of Montjuïc, and its position explains nearly everything about it. This is the neighbourhood of Carrer Blai and its pintxos, of the old Paral·lel theatres, and of a social mix that is getting rare in Barcelona: families who have always been here, recent immigration, and newcomers from across Europe, all sharing the same stairwells.
It is central without being touristy, lively without being unbearable, and it remains one of the best value-for-money neighbourhoods within a ten-minute walk of Plaça Catalunya. The tenants are young: students, people starting out, couples. The housing confirms it, with almost half the supply in two-bedroom flats and barely 3% at four bedrooms or more.
Its strength is that genuine neighbourhood life with the centre next door. Its weaknesses are physical: the streets climb the side of Montjuïc, so the hills are real, the buildings are old and narrow, and a lift is not guaranteed.
Transport: metro L2 and L3 (Paral·lel), L3 (Poble Sec) and the funiculars up Montjuïc.
45% of rental flats in el Poble-sec have two bedrooms, followed by 24% with three bedrooms. Studios make up 6% of the supply, and flats with four or more bedrooms, 3%.
Lift. 59% of rental homes here have a lift. Old, narrow buildings clinging to the side of Montjuïc: six in ten flats have a lift, and many that do not are on the upper floors.
Private landlord or agency. 18% of listings are posted by a private landlord, against 82% that come through an agency. That is a middling proportion for Barcelona.
The median rent in el Poble-sec is €1,346 a month. Most flats let for between €1,066 and €1,650 a month: a quarter of the supply falls below €1,066, and another quarter goes above €1,650.
Per square metre that works out at 20.5€/m². Applied to real floor areas, a 50 m² flat lands around €1,020 a month, a 70 m² flat around €1,440, and a 90 m² flat around €1,840.
Against the city as a whole, el Poble-sec sits 10% below the Barcelona median (€1,496/month), where the median price per square metre is 22.2€/m².
In el Poble-sec, only 10% of listings go below 14.6€/m². If you find a 70 m² flat at €1,020 a month or less, it is below the 10th percentile for the neighbourhood.
That does not make it a scam, but it is worth checking before you go any further. A price well below the local market is the single most common red flag in rental fraud.
For reference, the 25th percentile in el Poble-sec sits at 16.9€/m². Below that, the price is good for the neighbourhood without being anomalous.
Over the last few months, the price per square metre in el Poble-sec has fallen by 9.1% against the previous period.
Based on 148 Idealista listings in el Poble-sec analyzed over the last few months. We compare two consecutive 28-day periods, and we measure the change in price per square metre rather than in median rent: median rent rises and falls with the size of the flats posted in a given week, which describes our sample rather than the market. Our history is still short, so these figures describe where the market is right now, not an annual trend.
Looking for a flat in el Poble-sec right now? The good listings are gone within hours. Our Idealista apartment alerts notify you the moment one matching your search goes live, before everyone else sees it.
The median rent in el Poble-sec is €1,346 a month, which works out at roughly 20€/m². Most flats let for between €1,066 and €1,650 a month. These figures come from 148 Idealista listings over the last few months.
Over the last few months, the price per square metre in el Poble-sec has fallen by 9.1% against the previous period. The comparison is based on 76 listings in the earlier period and 72 in the more recent one.
59% of rental homes in el Poble-sec have a lift. Old, narrow buildings clinging to the side of Montjuïc: six in ten flats have a lift, and many that do not are on the upper floors.
In practice, yes. Most landlords and agencies in Barcelona will ask for your NIE (Número de Identificación de Extranjero) before signing a rental contract, and you will also need it to set up utilities and open a bank account. It is not a legal requirement for the contract itself, but applicants without one tend to lose the flat to someone whose paperwork is ready. Here is how to get your NIE in Barcelona.