Barcelona Social streamlines aid procedures and appointments from your mobile

The tool is intended for people assisted by municipal social services and for professionals who need to follow each case in a more organised way. For many users, it may mean fewer waits, less paperwork and more autonomy in procedures that until now could be slow or difficult to follow.

The app allows users to consult assigned benefits, provide supporting documents for aid, download documentation and receive automatic appointment notifications. Visits can also be cancelled, and the option to change them or request new ones from the phone itself is expected to be added soon.

Barcelona Social is available in Catalan, Spanish and English. Access requires digital identification via idCAT Mòbil, a digital certificate or Clave PIN, a necessary step to protect personal information and ensure that each user accesses only their own data.

Before its launch, the application was tested for six months with more than one hundred users and fifty professionals. The pilot experience made it possible to check which functions were most useful and what questions might arise in everyday use.

To support the rollout, the City Council has made 42 support points available across the city. There, staff help people install the app, resolve access problems and explain how to use its main functions, which is key for those unaccustomed to carrying out digital procedures.

It is expected that around 93,700 people assisted by social services and some 1,400 professionals will be able to benefit from this tool. The impact may be felt particularly by families managing aid, older people supported by municipal services or users with frequent appointments.

The app does not eliminate in-person assistance, but it may ease part of the daily bureaucracy. If it works well, checking an aid payment, retrieving a certificate or remembering an appointment will depend less on calls, travel and waits in offices.