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Barcelona’s new health plan may fail to reach many women due to lack of time
Barcelona takes a step that could change how we look after health. The Generalitat de Catalunya will allow primary care doctors to prescribe physical activity as part of treatment. The measure seeks to reduce the use of medicines and encourage healthier habits in everyday life.
The premise is clear: move more to live better. Exercise not only prevents illness, it also improves mental wellbeing and creates social bonds. In a city with intense rhythms and constant stress, the proposal arrives as a direct alternative to more pharmacological solutions.
But an uncomfortable question arises which changes how the plan is read. Who can afford to follow that prescription? For many people, and especially for many women, the problem is not a lack of desire, but a lack of real time.
The data reflect this. In Spain, women devote around 14 more hours per week than men to domestic and care work. It is almost like adding two extra invisible working days. That wear reduces the room for sport, rest or simply stopping.
This is where what is known as ‘time poverty’ comes into play. Although the programme opens an opportunity, it may not reach those who need it most if these inequalities are not addressed. The initiative risks benefiting mainly those who already have availability.
Barcelona’s challenge is not only to promote exercise, but to make it genuinely accessible. If it is not adjusted to residents’ everyday lives, especially in neighbourhoods where time is scarcer, the prescription may remain on paper rather than becoming real change.