T.I.C.T.A.C., EAMISS and Canódrom are the venues where the activities took place.
The Cafè Barcelona 2026 (CafèBCN 2026) project, initiated by La Fragua Projects, continues to establish itself as a space for gathering and collective reflection on a range of issues. In recent months, three Participatory Spaces for Democratic Innovation (EPIDs) have been held, bringing together migrant, Roma and/or racialised participants to discuss rights, coexistence and access to opportunities.
Spaces for Participatory Democratic Innovation
Participatory Spaces for Democratic Innovation are safe spaces where migrant, Roma and/or racialised people can express their views and share their experiences on a range of social, political and cultural issues, amongst others. These spaces are based on a methodology known as the ‘World Café’, which brings together groups of four people at four different tables for successive rounds of discussion. This methodology, adapted by La Fragua Projects with an intersectional perspective, takes place in a café setting, to make the space safe and welcoming, encouraging participants to express themselves freely. This project has been running since 2025, and this is its second edition. At the end of the project, the participants’ experiences and opinions are gathered and analysed to identify their needs, with a view to advocating for policy change.
CafèBCN 2026 has created participatory spaces in which to address, from a variety of perspectives, key issues such as access to healthcare, culture, housing, working conditions and the use of public spaces. The sessions have provided an opportunity to share experiences related to city life and to initiate discussions on topics such as discrimination, social inclusion and relations with public institutions.
In this regard, the EPIDs have served as safe spaces where people can voice concerns and share their thoughts—things that do not always find a place in other contexts. The diversity of voices has enriched the dialogue, making it possible to identify common ground despite our different personal backgrounds.
Furthermore, the process has highlighted how many of the difficulties faced in everyday life stem from shared structural dynamics. This collective awareness paves the way for new ways of tackling social challenges through collaboration and mutual recognition.
Three forums for dialogue to address inequalities and community life
In the three EPIDs produced so far, participants have been able to discuss healthcare, culture, housing, migration and exceptional regularisation, amongst many other topics.
The project’s first event and launch took place at the headquarters of the organisation ‘Workshop for Critical Transfeminist, Anti-Racist and Militant Interventions’ (t.i.c.t.a.c.), a transfeminist, anti-racist and decolonial space. Marité from t.i.c.t.a.c. opened the doors of her home to us and welcomed us as if we were part of her family. One of the questions put to the participants concerned the extraordinary regularisation process and how this administrative measure would affect their lives. Opinions were largely in agreement from a positive perspective, as, for them, this measure represents a benefit both for people in an irregular administrative situation and for Spain. They hope it will help reduce situations of abuse, precariousness and crime; as one participant said, “those who are against this proposal are those who want to abuse us, treating us like slaves”.
The second session, held at the EAMISS Centre, focused on the city and access to it. One question that stood out concerned housing: “When looking for a place to live, have you ever felt that this city is for some people but not for everyone?” The responses were largely in agreement; for example, one participant commented that “the city should be for everyone, but the reality is that you need a lot of money”.
The third and most recent session to date took place at El Canódrom. Various topics were discussed, such as the Catalan language and social inclusion, the presumption of innocence, being in public versus private spaces, and religious education in schools. On this last topic, the question posed was: “Does the educational community take all religious or spiritual beliefs into account?” The participants highlighted the value of religious diversity and the importance of learning about different religions; consequently, they agreed that rather than selecting a single religion to study, this educational space should be turned into a subject called, for example, cultural diversity, where pupils can learn about different religions.
Shared challenges and lessons learnt
In general, the participants felt hopeful and optimistic that the abusive and precarious situations would come to an end. They were also very pleased to be able to share their views in a safe and welcoming space, and emphasised the need for such spaces where they could share their experiences and opinions and be heard.
The EPIDs from CafèBCN 2026 highlight the need to continue fostering spaces for dialogue and participation that bring diverse realities to the fore and help build collective responses to today’s social challenges.
CafèBCN 2026 is a project that not only encourages reflection, but also fosters connections and helps identify common concerns that cut across different aspects of urban life.
The next and fourth EPID event is in collaboration with Bayt Al-Thaqafa on 11 June. And the final EPID event will be organised by the Mujeres Pa’lante Cooperative, a safe space where women from different countries and with different backgrounds will take part.
Source: La Fragua Projects Photo: La Fragua Projects
The Llevant Civic Centre and the Reus Women’s Centre hosted the first two sessions of the Cafè del Camp project.
The first sessions of the Cafè del Camp project, held in Reus on 26 March and 7 May 2026, have left a profound mark on all those who took part. More than mere meetings, they have been spaces of shared life, where more than thirty migrants, refugees and racialised people have put words and emotion to realities often silenced.
In each session, sixteen people of diverse backgrounds, genders and ages took part to ensure the most heterogeneous representation possible. The sessions were structured into four tables, each facilitated by a different person. At each table a different question was posed, and every twenty minutes participants moved to a new table, allowing them to listen to and share multiple perspectives.
The activity took place in a warm atmosphere, accompanied by coffee and a wonderful snack that helped to create an atmosphere of trust and closeness.
The topics covered have been issues that directly affect the daily lives of migrants: precarious employment, access to housing, access to healthcare, police pressure, cultural appropriation, registration, and how the wars in their countries of origin affect them.
Gazing that understand, silences that embrace
The conversations combined moments of tenderness and complicity with harsh, striking accounts. Particularly harrowing was the testimony of members of the Palestinian community; some voices broke – it wasn’t just pain: it was living memory, distant family, fear, sadness, frustration and hope all mixed together.
Despite the harshness of some testimonies, the atmosphere was consistently one of care, respect and community. The facilitators ensured that each table became a small refuge where words could find a place and meaning.
There were also sudden bursts of laughter, small moments of complicity born between people who had never met before. There were silences that were not frightening, because they were shared. There were hands that clasped, eyes that said “me too.”
The Camp Café reaffirms the importance of creating participatory spaces where migrants can speak for themselves in the first person, without intermediaries and with the certainty that their experiences have political, social and human value.
These sessions have not only served to share experiences, but also to forge bonds, recognise ourselves in others’ stories and build a collective narrative that is often rendered invisible.
All conclusions, visions and opinions will be compiled into a final report, which we will publish to influence the stakeholders.
Source: La Fragua Projects Photos: La Fragua Projects
A collective assessment and proposals to combat structural inequality and institutional racism in Barcelona
The Cafè Barcelona 2025 project, launched by La Fragua Projects with the support of theBarcelona City Council and the Department of Social Rights and Inclusion of the Government of Catalonia, has been conceived as a mechanism for democratic innovation to strengthen the participation of refugee, migrant, Roma and racialised communities in the development of public policies. Its aim: to create spaces for horizontal dialogue that recognise diversity and transform the way collective decisions are made.
Through four Participatory Spaces for Democratic Innovation (EPIDs), the project has addressed key issues such as the right to housing, job insecurity, school segregation, institutional racism, political disengagement, hate speech, gender-based violence and racialised LGBTIQ+ rights. The discussions have highlighted the persistence of structural inequalities affecting access to basic rights and civic participation, as well as the need to incorporate an anti-racist and intersectional perspective into all public policies.
The main conclusions include:
Ensuring access to housing through anti-discrimination measures and market regulation.
Combat job insecurity and racist harassment through clear protocols and positive action.
Reducing school segregation and incorporating anti-racism training into the education system.
Establish mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability in police operations.
Create permanent spaces for participation that give a voice to racialised communities.
To tackle hate speech and disinformation through educational and media strategies.
To safeguard LGBTIQ+ rights and combat gender-based violence through an intersectional approach.
This report is not merely a diagnosis: it is a call to action. The proposals it contains are the result of real-life experience and point towards a shared vision: a fairer, more inclusive and more democratic Barcelona.
The city’s Cultural Centre is hosting this new meeting of the Cafè Barcelona project.
Once again, 16 diverse people, drawn from the margins—geographical, social and symbolic. They reunited with joyful embraces and smiles. Cups once again brimming with coffee and herbal infusions, and once more the four hosts began the dialogue on pressing issues, eagerly jotting down phrases and ideas.
There’s a sense of community in the group: everyone is different, yet at the same time we share a common thread. Something feels like home, and that fills us with satisfaction.
The bell from the café owner’s wife tells us that twenty minutes have already passed and we need to get up and move to another table. This time it’s other neighbourhoods of ours: La Mina (Sant Adrià de Besòs), La Mariola (Lleida), Camp Clar (Tarragona) and Torre Baró (Barcelona).
The topics, this time we’re repeating two of them because of their gravity and how they affect us: the right to housing and labour precarity. But there are also two new topics, although they’re too old for our collective memory: school segregation and political disaffection.
Intense dialogues, active listening, emotion and anger. Everything stems from respect and affection for one another. On this occasion, three little human beings grace us with their presence, and of course we make sure they’re entertained and well-fed with snacks.
We’re running out of coffee when someone asks us for time to pray according to their beliefs. Everyone stops, and a few minutes later the praying people return. An exercise in coexistence and respect.
Finally, once again, the harvest, where the hosts attempted to summarise the whole wealth of dialogue and ideas that had taken place at their respective table.
Everyone leaves eager to return and asking if they can invite such a friend or such another person. May joy change sides. Without joy, no revolution can blossom.
Source: La Fragua Projects Photos: La Fragua Projects
The Ateneu La Bòbila in Porta is hosting the first edition of an event that forms part of a project aimed at encouraging civic participation from the margins.
Following months of preparation, internal training and outreach work, the first “Participatory Space for Democratic Innovation” of the Café Barcelona 2025 (CBCN 2025) project took place on 29 September. Over a cup of coffee, the event fostered dialogue between members of migrant, refugee, Roma and racialised communities in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area.
At this inaugural event, around four moderators brought together people of Roma origin, from the Maghreb, indigenous peoples of Abya Yala, Latin Americans, Pakistanis, Chinese and Black Africans. All were keen to make their voices heard and share their views on the four topics under discussion: the right to housing, job insecurity, police pressure and the rise of exclusionary ideologies.
We have taken particular care to ensure balanced representation, not only in terms of ethnic background, but also in terms of age, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and gender identities. When diversity is believed in and embraced, things fall into place naturally. This project is a manifestation of this way of seeing the world.
Every 20 minutes, our guests moved to a different table, where they discussed a different topic. The tables were named after the neighbourhoods where people of colour live: Bon Pastor (Barcelona), La Florida (L’Hospitalet de Llobregat), Sant Josep Obrer (Reus) and Font de la Pólvora (Girona). Refreshments, drinks, fruit, coffee and a childcare service were provided for those who needed it.
Finally, it was time for the round-up, during which the hosts attempted to summarise the wealth of discussions and ideas that had emerged at their respective tables.
An excellent start to a project that fills our hearts with joy and hope. We will hold further meetings and, in due course, everything will be made public in a report designed to influence stakeholders. May joy change sides. Without joy, no revolution can flourish.
Source: La Fragua Projects Photos: La Fragua Projects
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